The people at Interview Magazine have been kind enough to share a sneak peek at their big feature on Floyd Mayweather Jr., which will hit newsstands on December 15. You can read the full article, check out a video, and take a look at the photos from the feature (one of which is seen to your right) at the magazine's web site.

The interview took place before the Cotto-Pacquiao fight, so Mayweather-Pacquiao wasn't set up as it is now, but you still get some interesting bits from Mayweather on growing up, on how he sees his career, on what he fights for (money, glory, or both?) and other stuff. Plus on two occasions, he pulls a total Floyd move and talks to someone else in the room about Gucci jackets and Bentleys and how much money he has. Just totally off the cuff! It's so believable!

It's an interesting interview, conducted by Jonathan Ames, the creator of the HBO show "Bored to Death," and worth reading. Without sounding weird, the cultural gap (or whatever you might want to call it) between Ames and Mayweather makes for the sort of discussion you don't generally get when Floyd is interviewed by a boxing writer or a sports broadcaster. Ames and Mayweather aren't really from the same world, in some regards, and that makes for a unique back-and-forth, which I found fun to read.

Probably my favorite part, first part a choice Floyd moment (where it seems like he's being 100% honest) and the second part an example of the interviewer-interviewee dynamic I was talking about:

AMES: Well, by saying, “I’m the greatest ever,” what’s cool is that it sounds like—

MAYWEATHER: No, no, no. I’m saying I’m the best ever. Ali said he was the greatest of all time, but I say I’m the best ever. You know, everybody has a slogan, and once you beat people over the head with it so much, then that’s what you’ll eventually be called once you retire from the sport or whatever. But the only way that you can make a statement like that true—the only way that it is true—is if you’re doing what you say you’re doing. You get a lot of fighters that talk a lot of trash, but they can’t back it up. I’ve backed up what I’ve said thus far, and I am in a position now to say that I am one of the best—if not the best. A lot of times, in the beginning of my career, I put pressure on myself just because I wanted to perform so well. I just wanted to be perfect.

AMES: I saw some quote from you, and I don’t mean to touch on this, but—

MAYWEATHER: Well, if you don’t mean to do it, then don’t do it!

AMES: No, well, it’s an emotional—

MAYWEATHER: People always say, “I don’t mean to do this . . . ,” and then they do it! If you don’t mean to touch on it, then don’t touch on it. That’s how I feel.

Related: Interview also recently did a piece with Mike Tyson that I thought I'd point you to while we're at it.