Legendary multi-division world champion Floyd Mayweather has spoken of his love of the sport as he prepares to step through the ropes for another exhibition bout.
Mayweather will take on John Gotti III on August 24 in an exhibition rematch over eight rounds at the Arena Ciudad de Mexico in Mexico City. Remarkably, it’s the first time Mayweather will compete in Mexico, despite facing a host of Mexican stars over the course of his boxing career, and he’s clearly relishing the prospect of competing in such a boxing-loving country.
“It’s always great to be able to fight where there is a lot of fight fans and we know that Mexico loves boxing,” said Mayweather at the event’s launch press conference in Times Square, New York.
“Mexico has a history of great champions and the love of boxing in Mexico is truly unbelievable. I had so many chances to go to Mexico to visit and vacation but I’ve never had the chance to go to Mexico and actually fight.
“Now throughout my career as an amateur as well as a professional, I had the chance to face so many legendary and so many tough opponents from Mexico. The flipside, now, I’m going to Mexico where I truly believe that there’s going to be crazy fans and the outcome is going to be unbelievable. I look forward to going to Mexico and putting on a show.
“It’s kind of good to just showcase my talent and give people a glimpse of what I was doing when I was at the height of my career, when I was at the pinnacle of my career. Just being able to travel the world and put on shows, put on exhibition bouts and still sell out arenas is a great feeling.”
From a sporting and financial standpoint, Mayweather has little need to continue to compete, but the drive to continue to show that he’s still got a fair amount of the talent that took him to all-time great status in his prime is still very much there. And the chance to compete in front of a packed house in Mexico has him enthused and excited ahead of his matchup with Gotti.
“I truly believe that if I took a lot of abuse in the sport of boxing throughout my career, then I probably wouldn’t still be doing exhibitions or putting on boxing showcases,” he said.
“But I didn’t take no abuse in the sport of boxing, so I feel like I can continue to go out there, have fun and put on shows throughout the world.
“Last time I checked, I’ve beat more fighters that are in the Hall of Fame than any fighter in history and that’s truly a blessing. But (Gotti) is a tough competitor and I take my hat off to him. He wanna run it back, we can run it back twice, three times. It is what it is. I was born to be a fighter, I’m gonna die a fighter at the end of the day.”
