Floyd Mayweather Jr. mellows for Manny Pacquiao fight

By Case Keefer (contact)

Friday, May 1, 2015 | 2 a.m.

Like a torero waving a red flag in front of a bull, Manny Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach hurled insults repeatedly trying to rile up Floyd Mayweather Jr. over the past several months.

Mayweather reacted as apathetically as a grazing cow. Once as brash as any boxer in the world, Mayweather has changed by ignoring all incitements from Pacquiao’s camp ahead of their long-awaited fight Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

“I was just trying to make it a little more exciting,” Roach said Thursday in his final press conference before the fight. “It didn’t work. At first, I said he was much too calm and I hoped this fight happens.”

Roach clarified that he was no longer worried about the fight going off as scheduled, but came to another conclusion regarding Mayweather’s apparent listlessness: The undefeated fighter’s heart really isn’t into fighting Pacquiao.

The most surprising part is, Mayweather doesn’t completely disagree. The 38-year-old wants to fight Pacquiao, but says it’s almost entirely for a payday he expects to fall around $200 million.

Roach successfully provoked Mayweather in the past when he was in Oscar De La Hoya’s corner for their 2007 fight, which generated a record 2.4 million pay-per-view buys that Mayweather vs. Pacquiao should easily eclipse, but those days are gone.

“I’m glad I was very outspoken and flashy,” Mayweather said. “But I was young. I’m close to the big 4-0. I’m very, very close so I look at life, look at things totally differently.”

The quickest way to get a rise out of Mayweather these days is questioning his money management. He may be as known for exploits like purchasing 100 luxury vehicles from one Southern Nevada dealership as his boxing achievements, but he says there’s no way he’ll wind up broke like so many millionaire boxers before him.

Mayweather reported he had made $11 million already this week through shrewd investments. He claimed he set up a financial plan with his advisers Al Haymon and Leonard Ellerbe that ensured he’d receive “a seven-figure check every month” after he steps away from the sport.

“A lot of times people say, ‘Floyd’s not going to have any money when his career is over,’” Mayweather said. “But I’ve made calculated moves. Of course, I’m human. I made mistakes when I was younger. I messed up millions, but I’m OK.”

The prosperity has Mayweather openly looking toward his future beyond boxing. His father and trainer, Floyd Mayweather Sr., would like him to retire after fighting Pacquiao.

“Those are my thoughts because if you stick around, someone is going to get you sooner or later,” Mayweather Sr. said.

Mayweather Jr. agreed with his father, but guaranteed he’d fight at least once more after Saturday. He signed a six-fight deal with Showtime two years ago, and plans to fulfill the contract in September.

Two more victories would make Mayweather Jr. 49-0, tied with Rocky Marciano’s hallowed record. Boxing historians can’t imagine Mayweather Jr. walking away without trying to reach 50, but he’s persistent that legacy is no longer important to him.

“My daughter can’t eat a zero but she can eat off of the money,” Mayweather Jr. said. “She can’t spend the boxing records.”

Boxing is just a job to Mayweather Jr. It wasn’t always that way.

He was passionate about the sport for most of his life, but noticed a waning interest outside of his own training in the last few years. He stopped watching fights, replacing the television time with football and basketball games that he routinely wagers millions on.

“Every once in a while I’ll say, ‘Is this a good fight to bet on,’” Mayweather Jr. said. “I knew that I really wasn’t focused on boxing because when I bet on boxing, I don’t win. I don’t know these fighters anymore.”

Pacquiao is one of the exceptions. Their careers are inexorably linked given their dual dominance of the era and how long it took to match them against each other.

Mayweather is known for some the most vicious aggression years ago, including going off on a racist rant and accusing Pacquiao of performance-enhancing drug use, making his passiveness all the more noticeable now.

“I did that in the past but I’m a lot older now, a lot wiser now,” Mayweather Jr. said. “My ultimate goal was to get to this point.”

Case Keefer can be reached at 948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.