KEEPING THE BEST COMPANY
It’s been yet another great week in Las Vegas. I have to say it feels like I’m starring in a movie, but it’s my life right now. I’m loving and enjoying every single minute and making the very most of my time here. It’s a shame it has to come to an end far too soon.
This is my seventh week in Las Vegas and I started it off with a bang.
The Money Team’s Mickey Bey and I continued our highly intensive sparring. I’m loving these tough five minute rounds with only 30 seconds rest.
Eddie Mustafa Muhammad said to me after my sparring session with Mickey, “you can’t get this kind of sparring in the UK.” I tend to agree!
Floyd Senior told me “No one in the gym at Mickey’s weight can give him that good work.”
Two of the best trainers in the world, appreciating my talent. What more can I say!
Eddie, who also trains world champions Ishe Smith and Chad Dawson, took 10 of us, including The Money team’s J’Leon Love, Badou Jack and Luis Cuba Arias to Mount Charleston, for a 9km morning run on Tuesday and Saturday morning.
We started at 5000 feet rising to 9000 feet above sea level. It was snowing and cold up there on Tuesday. Tough conditions build tough fighters. It was a 50 minute battle, but we fought through it. It was hard but rewarding work.
Nothing worthwhile comes easy in life. You have to put that work in. WBC world champion, Chad Dawson also came with us, as he is defending his title against Adonis Stevenson in June. Training with and amongst the world’s best has been a great experience, and one that I feel comfortable with.
Wednesday was Media Day at the gym for all The Money team fighters and Floyd himself. The gym was packed with reporters from all over North America. I had a few interviews with some reporters who were interested in what my current and future plans are.
Floyd Mayweather spoke to the journalists, and then went to work; hitting the mitts with Roger Mayweather, followed by the body bag with Nate Jones. He pounded the heavy bag and then went straight on the speed ball. This was followed by strength conditioning exercises and skipping, which finished his workout.
The Media Day was closed off by Floyd doing some television interviews. Floyd is truly a rock star. Seeing how he is and how he treats his people, I know he deserves every bit of the success that he has achieved.
He never forgets to mention Leonard Ellerbe and Al Haymon when praising his team. They have played a big part in his success. Any successful business has a great team working together behind the scenes.
Floyd Mayweather is the number one sportsman in the world. His only endorsement is The Money Team. He endorses himself. Big companies and brands have tried to tie him down to a variety of different partnerships, but if you want the number one sportsman in the world “you have to pay.”
I headed down to the D on Freemont Street to watch an outside boxing tournament after The Media Day. I had met boxing legend Roy Jones Junior and two time world champion Jean Pascal the week before at the Mayweather Boxing Club. I spent the evening watching the boxing with them on their table, which was a great honour and something I would never imagined happening 15 years ago, when I idolized Roy Jones as a teenager. I also met UFC president, Dana White, who was a really nice guy. He generously thanked me for my support.
After nine weeks training in Las Vegas I’m happy that I’ll be making an appearance on Miranda Carter’s Left Jab promotion on Saturday 18th May at the Civic Centre in Essex. For tickets CLICK HERE
It will be my 40th fight over a 10 year career which has seen me beat world number 3 Delvin Rodriguez, former world champion DeMarcus Corley and drop a split decision to current world champion, Danny Garcia. I’ve been ranked world number four and I’ve won four championship titles.
There’s so much more to come, as everyone in attendance at the Mayweather Boxing Club has witnessed.
THE AUDACITY OF HOPE
I’m now six weeks into my nine week training camp in Las Vegas. Every week is better. Every week is harder. Every week I’m learning.
I sparred the Money team’s Mickey Bey on Monday and Wednesday. Mickey will be in one of the preliminary bouts before Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather’s fight against Robert ‘The Ghost’ Guerrero on May 4th at the MGM Hotel and Casino, here in Las Vegas.
We battled it out through five minute full action rounds. It was great work. Floyd Mayweather Senior is Mickey’s coach, so he was barking orders at his fighter whilst Nate Jones was doing his job with me.
Every sparring session is extremely competitive. You can only learn from each of these sessions. Every day, my aim is to be better than the day before.
Two weight world champion Celestino Caballero, fights this Saturday in a WBC Silver championship. It was a pleasure to spar with him exclusively over three weeks. He thanked me for helping him, and said he’d bring back the ‘W’ mainly due to the hard sparring I gave him. He hopes we’ll continue sparring in the future. I really hope so too!
Some of my sparring sessions at the Mayweather Boxing Club have been ‘finger licking good’. I have won the respect of the fighters and the trainers at the gym. That means a lot to me, as I continue walking that path I visioned for myself as a five year old kid. Nobody said it would be easy, but believe me, it sure is worth it.
On Tuesday, two time world champion Jean Pascal and boxing legend, Roy Jones Junior came by the gym to watch Floyd’s workout.
I spoke with Jean and told him I knew he would become a world champion when I saw him in the Commonwealth Games years ago in Manchester. He thanked me and said that they tried to rob him against the local English fighter. He was obviously too good, as he came away with the gold medal.
Floyd gave me a lift home in his white Ferrari, which was very kind of him. The media like to portray a negative side to him, but he is a kind, generous and giving person, who employs many of his family and friends.
As Luis Arias, one of his fighters said on his showtime interview I watched being filmed in the gym, “Floyd changes many people’s lives every day”. Floyd does many kind acts that never get mentioned by the media, but people around him or those who have come into contact with him get to witness it.
On Wednesday, Showtime’s ‘All Access’ which follows both fighters through their training and personal life leading up to the fight, premiered. It was very entertaining! I watched it at the Mayweather Boxing Club with the rest of the guys.
Larry King was at the gym on Thursday, and he interviewed Floyd for a TV special. Floyd came across really well. The interview was authentic, enlightening and funny. I like Floyd’s positive view on life. He likes to focus on the positive, just like myself. It was a pleasure to watch the filming of it with the Money team and Floyd’s friends and family.
Nate Jones trains Floyd Mayweather along with Roger Mayweather, and was on the same Olympic team as Floyd back in 1996. He told me a story about Floyd during the week. Floyd told all his Olympic team mates back in 1996 that he would go on to be an all-time great, and be undefeated as a professional boxer. Floyd believed in himself even back then, and he has made his dreams a reality.
I firmly believe that any successful person should try to give back, and inspire the next generation coming up behind them. Everybody needs a positive role model.
One day, I want to look back and know that I helped some people on the way up, achieve their dreams. Floyd Mayweather did that brilliantly with Ishe Smith. He believed in him and went out of his way to get him a world title shot. The rest is boxing history!
If being successful was easy, everyone would be. It takes hard work, dedication, perseverance, resilience and you have to believe in yourself, especially when no one else does.
We all have dreams of becoming the person we wish to be, but it’s tough, and without putting in the required work, we will never get there.
I’ve learned that constantly fuelling hope is a lot harder than allowing despondency to take over, but it’s so much more fulfilling.
SPARRING WITH MICKEY BEY
Photos courtesy of Chris Robinson
Check out more on the HustleBoss website here
FEARLESS
My father always told me not to follow anyone, but to walk my own path in life.
This long lasting and rock solid advice has seen me fight in five countries, picking up four championship titles and stacking up 33 wins. This year is my tenth anniversary as a professional boxer, and what a way to start the year.
I’m staying 2 months at the unique Mayweather Boxing Club in Las Vegas.
Working with Nate Jones has been a great and special learning experience. He is one of the best trainers in the world.
Floyd doesn’t work with him because he is ‘pretty’, despite the fact that he always shouts out around the gym just how pretty he is, and how ugly we all are.
Roger Mayweather and Nate Jones make up the unbeatable partnership that has helped Floyd stack up 43 wins and no defeats over seventeen years.
I believe Floyd can get to 50-0 and then retire, beating Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 record. The great fighter that Floyd is, he never looks beyond his next fight. “One fight at a time” he told me during our road work around Las Vegas.
Floyd’s recent documentary “30 Days in May” aired on Showtime here in the US, on Wednesday night at 10pm. It was a behind the scenes look at his life; interviews with his family and friends, whilst following Floyd around the United States.
For those of us privileged to see him ‘up close and personal’, he is a truly inspiring athlete and individual. He dreamt that he would be living the life he is living today. He has always been ambitious and hungry, coupled with hard work and dedication he has become the best fighter on the planet.
I’ve been sparring some of the best fighters in the world at the Mayweather Boxing Club, and just like my years at Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn, New York, I really come alive and thrive when in the ring with the world’s best.
Two weight world champion Celestino, has been sparring with me exclusively for the last three weeks. He “loves the work” we do in the ring. We are pushing each other hard and learning loads from each other.
On April 20th he fights for the first time in 18 months in Panama, and I’m happy and honoured that he has enjoyed trading punches with me. It is some of the hardest sparring I’ve ever done; working through five minute rounds instead of the normal three minutes.
Celestino is a five time world champion; he is a slick and powerful boxer. It is a compliment that a fighter of his calibre sees the talent I have in me, and has no fear about mixing it up and going for it. I feel exactly the same.
I also sparred with WBO world number six, Shawn Porter. That was also quality work, and I’m sure we’ll do it again real soon.
Sparring and fighting the world’s best is what I was born to do.
Over the past five weeks I have also sparred IBF World number 15, Vernon Paris, former world number 5 amateur, Semajay Thomas and undefeated Dangerous Don Moore, who works with Roger Mayweather.
Next week I have the Money team’s own undefeated fighter, Mickey Bey to contend with.
As Mike Tyson used to say “come one, come all. I take on all comers”.
My team tried to make a fight with former world number two, David Estrada, on a Sammy Merza Promotion in Illinois for April 26th. I was willing to move up two weight divisions to junior middleweight, which is a huge 14lbs difference to the junior welterweight division I normally campaign at.
The matchmaker said David needed a warm up first. Well I’ve learned to be patient; maybe we’ll get it on in the future. I’m very clear that the result will end the same, with me knocking him out.
David has fought some good fighters; Luis Carlos Abregu, Jesus Soto Karass, Kermit Cintron and Shane Mosley. I’m sure we’d put on a great show.
World champion, Ishe Smith, had a special BBQ over the weekend in Las Vegas for his fans and supporters. I like Ishe a lot! He does a lot of authentic work in the community, and with special attention for the kids. He is truly ‘the people’s champ’, and I’m proud to have him as a friend.
Afterwards some of us from the Mayweather Boxing Club went for a night of bowling. I’m not used to losing at anything I put my mind to, but on this occasion, I came in last which was very amusing to my American friends.
Sticknmove.co.uk flew in to Las Vegas from Peru for the weekend to get an exclusive interview with me at the Mayweather Boxing Club. As a gesture of thanks, I managed to get them interviews with the world number 6, Shawn Porter and the Money team’s Badou Jack, Ishe Smith, Mickey Bey and Lanell Bellows. We all give, and consequently, we all get. I love it here.
Walking your own path in life and leaving a fresh trail is always harder than following a well-trodden path. The joy of having a dream and then being brave enough to accomplish your very own mission is something different, inspiring and truly satisfying.
I came from the most humble of origins, and found myself dabbling in unlawful activities. I followed the wrong path and paid the price. However, I’m now doing what I always wanted to do as a kid. My hard work and focus proves that no matter where you are from, and whatever obstacles you may face, you can achieve your dreams.
I’m from a troubled and deprived area in West London, but I’m rubbing shoulders with the number one athlete in global sport.
Life is more than good!
Anything is possible in life, if you’re brave enough to dream, and strong enough to recover from any setback. I am the true and humble symbol of that.
TITLE FIGHTER – HOTSPUR
Welterweight boxer Ashley Theophane has won a host of national and international titles during his 10 year professional career to date. And, as the current GBC champion tells ANDY GREEVES, he sees no reason his beloved Tottenham Hotspur can’t put up a title fight of their own in the near future.
Click here to read the article in full
HIGH FIDELITY
I’m into week four of my current stint in Las Vegas and it has definitely been a life changing experience.
I’m working with Floyd Mayweather’s trainer, Nate Jones, and I’m adding some new approaches to my arsenal every day.
I had a testing but great start to the week, sparring five time world champion, Celestino Caballero, on Monday afternoon. We completed 4 x 5 minute rounds with only 30 seconds rest in between, in sweltering 30 degree heat. It was no joke, but exhilarating all the same.
After watching Floyd’s sparring session; Floyd, Leonard Ellerbe, Lanell Bellows and I went out for a run around Vegas. Running with the pound for pound king, the sports number one fighter is a hell of an amazing feeling.
How many fighters can say they’ve done that?
The Mayweather Boxing Club is a hotbed of competitiveness that attracts some of the world’s best fighters, including world title challengers Sebastian Lujan and Mike Jones, world champion, Ishe Smith and world rated fighters J’Leon Love and Badou Jack. They are all currently present in the gym, assisting in creating a uniquely challenging and special environment.
It also attracts some of the world’s best trainers; Nate Jones, Floyd Senior, Roger and Jeff Mayweather. The atmosphere is one made for winners, and everyone is pushing hard!
Leonard Ellerbe told me the other day that I am “watching history in the making.” I tend to agree! That’s what makes this training camp so rare and worthwhile.
I’m definitely not here for a vacation; I’m up early in the morning for a run around Vegas or a strength conditioning session at the 24 hour fitness complex. I’m then off to the Mayweather Boxing Club in the early afternoon for another ‘full on’ shift.
Sometimes I’m here from 1pm to 8pm these are long, tiring but instructive days. I work out hard, then sit, study and focus on Floyd’s training session. I’m constantly learning from the absolute best – what could be better?
I’ve trained in some of the best gyms across America, and they are all intense and huge learning experiences. They are simply the most combative gyms in the world. You are forced to bring your ‘A’ game otherwise you’ll get quickly trampled and side-lined.
I’ve sparred with 11 world champions, and countless world rated fighters. I think all fighters should want to test their ability to the limit, and see what they can really achieve.
If you always stay within your comfort zone, you will probably remain limited and constrained. Set no limit on yourself and your ability, by backing yourself you will quickly find that the possibilities are endless. My career clearly demonstrates that.
With no promotional backing, I’ve still managed to achieve more than most of my fellow British fighters who turned professional at the same time as me, despite the fact that they had a promoter backing them.
As a five year old kid, I grew up watching boxing with my father. I was inspired by some great and brave British fighters; like Kirkland Laing, Lloyd Honeyghan and Nigel Benn who all came over to the States and bashed up the best of the Yanks and those who fought here. Kirkland beat the great Roberto Duran when he was at his most fearsome, in a stunning upset, here in the States.
I’ve worked consistently hard to achieve what I have, and have had to make many sacrifices. Absolutely anyone can achieve their goals, but most fear failure more than they embrace the desire to win. There is no risk-free approach to success, and if you haven’t tasted failure, then you are probably just not trying hard enough. It’s never ever about not failing, but much more about how you recover from failure. You have to buy a ticket in order to win the lottery.
On Tuesday I was offered a fight with Juan Manual Marquez victim, WBO European junior welterweight champion, Serhiy Fedchenko, in Ukraine. Unfortunately it was just too short notice, but it would be a fight that I am so much up for down the line.
My team have tried to make a fight with Ty Barnett for June 1st, but his people appear to be less than interested in fighting me at 140lbs.
I’m currently working and preparing for my next fight, and after 2 months in Las Vegas at the Mayweather Boxing Club, I’ll be bursting to unleash all I’ve learned for my 40th fight and 34th win.
There’s a lot going on at the moment; my long term partnership with Wellman Vitabiotics has brought mutual and tangible success. They have a great range of sports supplements, and if you are reading Esquire or GQ magazine you may see yours truly featured in their (obviously) compelling marketing drive.
I’m also in the April edition of the Tottenham FC magazine, ‘Hotspurs’, it can be bought at all good retail stores. I’m a very proud Spurs fan, and I had the undeniable pleasure of being interviewed by the house magazine.
We are currently third in the English Premier League and I’d love to finish this season above our London rivals Arsenal and Chelsea.
Whilst extremely working hard here in Vegas, it helps that Spurs are playing such attractive football, and at last showing the belief of true winners.
Come on you Spurs!
