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Floyd Mayweather responds to claims that he elbows opponents, says Maidana is dirty

Floyd Mayweather spoke with Marcos Villegas about the promotion for his rematch with Marcos Maidana, plus accusations that he's a dirty fighter.

Scott Christ is the managing editor of Bad Left Hook and has been covering boxing for SB Nation since 2006.

On doing press tours

"It's just work (1). At this particular time in my career, it's just work (2). I've been here for so many years, and I know what it takes when it's a fight of this magnitude."

On whether or not he still finds boxing fun

"It's just work (3). Day in and day out, it's just work (4). I've done this for 18 years now as a professional, and it's just work. Some days are better than other days, but I'm happy that I'm able to spend a lot more time with my children, whereas early on in my career, I was fighting all the time, I was so, so busy, I was always in training camp. But now, I'm a lot older. I've been able to spend that special time with my children, which is very, very important."

On what Maidana did to be successful early

"I don't wanna say four rounds, I wanna say, he started off -- I mean, he started off -- I think he won the first round. I think I won the second round. He probably won the third and the fourth, and from there he got blew out. I think it was just something different that people haven't seen in a long time. But like I said, Marcos Maidana is a very, very dirty fighter. And Tony Weeks, he's still a great referee."

On the referee for September 13

"I think whoever the referee is, even if it's Tony Weeks again, I think he's gonna be a lot more stricter on both sides. My job is to go out there and beat the man that's in front of me, not focus on the referee."

On Robert Garcia claiming Mayweather uses his elbows to foul

"It's not really an elbow, it's a holding -- this is not an elbow, this is holding a guy off with a forearm. This is holding a guy off with a forearm. That is not an elbow. A lot of times, you see pictures of me holding a guy like this, he can hold me away with a forearm. ... You can hold a guy back with a forearm, I'm not hitting him with a forearm. I'm holding -- if we lock up and I hold him like this, you're able to hold a guy with a forearm, I'm not hitting him with a forearm. This guy, over 10 low blows, headbutts, elbows, kneeing. Just keep it clean. You're already fighting dirty, then you want to fight a bareknuckle brawl. You're in the wrong sport. This is boxing. I have a career after boxing."

On fighting on traditional Mexican holiday weekends

"We are fighting in America, so it's an American holiday."

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