FLOYD MAYWEATHER has, and always will, play by his own rules.
Not interested in convention, throughout his career Mayweather adopted a unique style of working out in the early hours of the morning.
Floyd Mayweather training with his uncle Roger
The American shadow boxes with weights in his hands
He believes it gave him a psychological advantage over his rivals – they slept while he trained.
Mayweather, unbeaten in 50 pro fights, shunned the usually strict regime most boxer’s followed during training camp and instead would head to the gym whenever he felt like it.
On other occasions, his workout would be so spontaneous a night out on the Las Vegas strip would turn into an opportunity to clock miles of road work – whether he’s dressed for the occasion or not.
In a 2005 NBC documentary, uncle and former trainer Roger said: “He’s a freak to train. If he’s anywhere – be a restaurant, a nightclub – he’ll get up and start running.”
Mayweather added: “Fighters, they’ve got a regimen, they’ve got a schedule, that’s not me.
“I stay up late, I run with Timberland’s on, with jeans on, T-shirt, whatever I’ve got on, I’ll run.”
Demarcus Corley, who Mayweather beat in 2004, revealed: “You never know when Floyd’s ready to work.
“I mean, you can leave the house and go to the party, and after the party, he’ll go to his trunk, slip on some shoes and just start running.
“You’ll be like, ‘We just left the club!'”
Mayweather would sometimes run straight after leaving a nightclub
The boxer trains in an empty gym in the early hours of the morning
Mayweather would train up until 4.00am and would not wake until 2.30pm the next afternoon, before returning to the gym for his boxing sessions which included sparring, pads and bag work.
For his late evening or early morning sessions, members of Mayweather’s entourage were kept on call, told to be prepared to go to work at all hours of the night.
During an episode of HBO’s ’24/7′ series in 2007, Mayweather’s manager Leonard Ellerbe answers his mobile, and says to the camera: “It’s about 2 o’clock in the morning, just got a call from Floyd and I’m getting ready to meet him at 24 Hour Fitness.
“While most other fighters are sleeping, he’s working.”
Zab Judah was a former opponent of Mayweather’s in 2006 but nine-years later got brought in as a southpaw sparring partner before Floyd beat Manny Pacquiao.
Judah recalls training sessions lasting FIVE HOURS before then running up to ten miles, only to be woken up in the middle of the night by Mayweather to do it all again.
The American chops down logs of trees with an axe
Zab Judah says Mayweather runs up to ten miles
He told VladTV: “The way he works is different.
“He put the work ethic on top of being talented. I had a chance to work with him for the Pacquiao fight and got to see how he trained.
“We’d pull off four or five hour gym sessions, right from the gym session, leave there and then go for a run for ten miles. I was like ‘This motherf***er is crazy!’
“We’d go home and lay down and he’ll call you again, like two or three in the morning and say ‘Yo, what’s up, let’s go running’.
“He outworked everybody.”
Mayweather’s unorthodox training methods were documented in HBO’s 24/7 and Showtime’s ‘All Access’ pre-fight series, which gave fans an inside look into the boxer’s camp.
But his one restriction was there could be no filming of his sparring sessions.
Former Mayweather training partner Dmitriy Salita, now a promoter, has lifted the lid on what went on during these secret spars and revealed the black eye he was given by the ring legend was treated like a “trophy”.
Mayweather is said to have sparred for four minutes a round with just 15 seconds break in between
Salita told EsNews: “It was four minute rounds with 15 seconds breaks in between. I didn’t know how tough it was until I got in the ring with him.
“Floyd gave me a bit of a black eye, and I fought ten days later and still had it a little bit but everyone said ‘Floyd did it’ so it was a bit of a trophy.”
Mayweather – who cut no weight when fighting at welterweight – also enjoyed a unique diet.
Before beating Marcos Maidana in 2014, he shouted in his gym: “I drink soda, I eat pizza, I hang out with chicks all day, and these fighters still can’t beat me.”
And true to his word, in an open workout before Mayweather fought UFC star Conor McGregor, he sipped Pepsi from a cup in between hitting the speed bag.
During the week of the fight, the UFC’s Embedded series showed the legendary counter puncher eating a Burger King, as Mayweather joked he had to beef up for the bout.
He said: “Burger King baby, what’s up? I’ve gotta eat Burger King, keep that weight on. I’m so scared of Conor McGregor.
“I just want to say thank you Dana White, for bringing that b**** to the table.”
After Mayweather stopped McGregor in seven rounds and officially retired, he was not seen in his Vegas gym for some time.
Even before his money-spinning exhibition bout against featherweight kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa, the multimillionaire insisted he did not train.
But in November last year, Mayweather sparked comeback rumours as he announced online that he was “coming out of retirement in 2020” and later named McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov as potential opponents.
Now the 43-year-old has not only returned to the gym, he is once again sparring, with talks of yet another lucrative ring return as prominent as ever.
Mayweather eats a Burger King before his fight against Conor McGregor
Mayweather sips Pepsi while training in his gym
Floyd Mayweather stays sharp showing off speed in gym training session as rumours over a return continue to surface
Source: Boxing - thesun.co.uk
