In what is supposedly his final press conference as a prizefighter, Floyd Mayweather sure offered-up a goodie. In fact, aside from one pretty shameless plug for his Shots app towards the end, it was really a great post-fight presser. Floyd spent over 40 minutes at the podium, taking all questions, and spent much of the time reflecting on his career which has spanned nearly two full decades.
Floyd kicked things off by being gracious, thanking his team as a critical part to his career success. He briefly talked his dominate win over Andre Berto before switching gears and really spending most of the presser reflecting to how he's got to this point, and giving a surprisingly convincing spiel on why he's comfortable walking away right now.
Here are some highlighted excerpts:
"I faced all the top guys in the sport of boxing, you know, to be in the sport for 19 years, and to be champion for 18 years, I had a remarkable career. But, I couldn't do it by myself." - Floyd Mayweather
Floyd also talked about his approach to boxing, including boxing fundamentals missing from today's generation, which gives him the edge over everyone else.
"Muscles don't win fights. It's all about that IQ. I'm 10 steps ahead of any fighter...whatever your best attribute is, I take it away from you and make you resort to doing something you don't want to do" - Floyd Mayweather
Honestly, I don't know that any sound bite could better describe Floyd's style as a boxer better than that one.
"I can look at a fighter and tell you what he can do good, and what he can't do good. For starters, a lot of fighters don't even stand on their pivot. You must be on your pivot, for starters. That's the first thing I learned. And that's one of the key things I learned in my career for movement - pivot, certain turns, certain angles. I remember it, day one...and when I see fighters boxing, I got the ups on them instantly." - Floyd Mayweather
Floyd says he usually knows from his very first jab he lands that he has the fight won, and fighting Manny Pacquiao was no different - except that it was the right hand:
"I come out with Pacquiao, first round. I feel him out like this (pawing left hand), I counter with the right hand, it buzzed him a little bit...I had to let him know that you ain't just gonna run up in here, it's hot.'" - Floyd Mayweather
Floyd then goes on to talk about working with Al Haymon and continuing to work with his young stable of fighters, and says he's happy to let them shine now that he's done everything there is to do in the sport. He's beaten the top names of his era, beaten more world champions than any other fighter in history, and has done it all just 49 fights - he doesn't think he needs one more. And despite whether you believe him or not, it looks and sounds to me like he believes himself.