Two weeks before Floyd Mayweather ends his nearly two-year retirement from boxing, the unbeaten welterweight and former pound-for-pound king shrugs off concerns he could be rusty Sept. 19 when he faces Mexican standout Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas.
Mayweather, whose last fight was a 10th-round knockout of previously unbeaten Ricky Hatton in December 2007, says the layoff might prolong his career.
"I don't know if the two-year layoff is going to affect me, but I feel fast, I'm strong and my timing is there," Mayweather said Wednesday. "I think the break actually helped, because I haven't had a break since '87. My body gets a chance to heal, and I just grew mentally as a person ... and I feel good."
Mayweather tiptoed around the problems he and his trainer-uncle Roger Mayweather have faced recently.
Roger Mayweather was arrested last month and accused of choking a female boxer who he had previously trained. He was charged with coercion with force and battery strangulation.
Late last month, Floyd Mayweather's Rolls-Royce was seen at a shooting in Las Vegas, and police searched his home. Although Mayweather was cleared as a suspect, police removed guns, ammunition and bulletproof vests from his home and were seeking an associate of Mayweather.
"I try to focus on positive things," Mayweather said. "(Interviewers) only want to know about negative things; they'll never ask you about the positive things. How many different families I (helped) and how many different schools I've given back to."
The good news is Roger Mayweather will be allowed to work the Sept. 19 bout (HBO pay-per-view, 9 p.m. ET), as long as he is free on bail and hasn't been convicted or plead to any crime, according to the Nevada Athletic Commission.
Mayweather (39-0, 25 KOs) is 32 and said keeping his perfect record intact means a lot. "It's extremely important for me to go out there and dominate," he said. "(Marquez) is a Mexican bulldog. He is going to counterpunch. He's going to go to the body. And me, I have to be smart and intelligent, and I'm pretty sure my Uncle Roger is going to have one hell of a game plan for me."
Source: usatoday.com
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