EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: FLOYD MAYWEATHER JR
By G. Leon

Undefeated pound for pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr told Boxingtalk.com, "God chose me and I'm glad he chose me. I've told the fight fans and the people around the world that soon everyone would have to recognize that I am the best fighter in the world pound for pound. I'm just going to keep dominating and keep beating the best guys that they could put in front of me. This is the Philty Rich slogan and this is how I feel, if it makes dollars it makes sense. And it's more like, speaking on Zab Judah, we've been chasing this guy for weeks trying to put the fight together. Zab turned down $4M and that's 40 times what he made in his rematch with Cory Spinks. We proposed it to Team Judah and they told us that Zab wants to fight in a non-title fight at 148 and we accepted it. We said, yeah, we'd fight at 148 and they still didn't want to make the fight happen." Members read on to see what the pound for pound king had to say. You don't want to miss it! ONLY on Boxingtalk!

GL: So Judah turned down $4M to make fight?

Floyd Mayweather Jr: "$4M and then some. A guaranteed $4M and then some. Before that we tried to put the Winky Wright fight together but Winky sounds ridiculous talking about he wants 50-50. Realize this, he's fought fifty something fights and he never saw a million. He finally saw his million in the second fight with Shane Mosley and now he's demanding 50-50. But as a person I like Winky and as a person I like Zab, but this is a business. And I call a spade a spade. Zab Judah is truly, deep in his heart scared of me and he knows, with me beating him, he wouldn't be able to live with himself."

"He wanted to fight a non-title fight at 148 pounds and I'm the smaller guy coming up. What that tells me is, he knows he's going to lose. But once he gets beat by me, at least he'll be able to hold on to those belts. Then he'll lose, get paid and still be world champion. I want to win world titles, but bringing the fans exciting fights more than anything. I know the fans on your website are tuning in like crazy and I want everyone to hear me loud and clear. Ricky Hatton turned me down twice, Shitty Shane Mosley turned me down, Winky Wright wanted 50-50 and Zab just didn't want the fight. These guys are talking ridiculous. Winky Wright after 50 fights saw his first million and I've been seeing it since I was 21 years old so these guys need to wake up and smell the coffee.

GL: How do you feel about going from potential mega-fights with Wright or Judah to a name Bob Arum threw at me the other night, Sharmba Mitchell?

Floyd Mayweather Jr: "It's not disappointing at all. Bob threw the name at you and Sharmba Mitchell is solid. He's a tough competitor and a tough warrior. If that's who Arum threw out there, like I said before, you put them in front of me and I'll beat them. I feel the same way about Winky Wright, you put him in front of me and I'll beat him. Anyone as far as Zab, Winky or Sharmba, there's ways that they could be beaten because they've all lost. There's no way to beat me, I haven't been beat before. And until someone proves me wrong I'm going to continue to talk the talk and walk the walk."

GL: After your tremendous showing against Gatti, people were really getting worked up over Wright or Judah on PPV. Do you feel that the Mitchell fight is a PPV event?

Floyd Mayweather Jr: "It all depends. I don't know who I'm fighting. If it's Sharmba it's Sharmba. He's a good fighter. And there's another good fight for me out there at 154...I don't know if his jaw is broken or not, but Fernando Vargas is out there and I would love to get a piece of that action. Personally, I know I'm a PPV fighter no matter who I fight. I could sell a fight and fans know I bring excitement. They want to see what I'm going to wear, they want to see if I'm going to dance, they want to see the best fighter in the world. Fans want to know what celebrities are going to come out. When I fight it's a star studded event. Jay-Z comes out to my fights, you don't see Jay-Z coming out to Zab's fights, you just see Zab running behind Jay-Z. Me and Jay-Z are the same type of people, smart businessman and two of the best entertainers in the world. Fat Joe, Puff Daddy, Jay-Z, these guys ain't at Zab fights. I mean, yeah they'll be there if Zab's on the undercard at the Garden. But you heard what I said, the undercard. When I fight, I'm the main event and the main attraction.

GL: As far as Vargas is concerned, that would be more of the dollars making sense than the challenge or legacy since Vargas clearly isn't what he used to be, correct?

Floyd Mayweather Jr: "Absolutely! But I want to wipe all these boys out. Whether it's Vargas, or Shane Mosley or Zab Judah or Ricky Hatton or Miguel Cotto or Winky Wright, it doesn't matter. 20 years from now I'm going down as the best fighter in history. I'm going to go down as a guy who fluctuated in weight and beat the best that was out there at 140, 147 and 154. In my time I'm the best fighter ever. In Ali's time he was the best and in Sugar Ray Robinson's time he was the best."

GL: Would you fight Sharmba Mitchell over Antonio Margarito?

Floyd Mayweather Jr: "It's all up to HBO and my team. Whatever they want that's what I'm for. But truthfully speaking Sharmba got a bigger name than Margarito. It's a bigger name to me. Back to Zab, I knew he didn't really want it. And it's like I told you before I'm going to teach him how to conduct himself like a businessman. If he's going to do something to me he should never talk about it because if something happens to me he's the first guy they're going to look for. You don't never spill your hand like that. I'm the kind of guy who respects him for what he does in the ring, but when it comes to me and fighting me, he's a scared coward. Zab Judah is a coward. In my camp, I call the shots for my team. It's obvious I've been doing things right this long because my career has been going great. He don't call the shots, if he don't know how to be a boss or a CEO tell him to give me a call because I could school him on that.

GL: Winky Wright recently told me you turned down $9M to his $6M to make that fight. What can you tell us about that?

Floyd Mayweather Jr: "Like I said, I think Winky Wright is a nice guy, but he should be an honest guy. If that offer really exists all he has to do is send it over and this fight could get gone. Tell him to send that contract, I'll sign it immediately and give it to you to put on the internet. Better yet, tell him to send you the contract with that offer that he says I turned down. Come on man, $9M? Let's make that happen. Winky's a good guy, but tell him to be an honest guy. If they're offering me that we could make the deal any way he wants. I'll fly a private jet to his house to sign the deal. He knows where I live, he's been over to this 12,000 square foot mansion before. He knows where I'm at. All you got to do is come to my community and ask for the guy with all the Bentley's, Rolls Royce's and Diamonds and they're going to point you right to my house.

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