Mayweather: Chopping wood is best

27 April 2015 03:31

Floyd Mayweather has turned to 'throwback training' in the belief it will take something special to defeat Manny Pacquiao at the MGM Grand in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Mayweather has been chopping 700lbs tree trunks sourced from the forests surrounding Big Bear Lake at his Las Vegas home to enhance his conditioning for the richest fight in history.

The 38-year-old abandoned the Rocky-style technique after becoming estranged from his father Floyd Mayweather Sr, who returned to his corner in 2013 and has overseen preparations for Pacquiao.

"I want to win. I really want to win and mentally I have to go back to where it all started from because he's not just any other fighter," Mayweather told ESPN.

"I don't think feel like there's anything I can't accomplish and that's why I'm pushing myself to the limit right now.

"I'm going back. Throwback training.I have to go back to where it all started from. I have to go back to day one. Chopping wood, it's the best for you.

"It all started with the sledge hammer when I was 10 years old. And then when I was 13 or 14, I started chopping with the axe.

"My dad showed me how to chop and all throughout my amateur career I used the axe.

"I stopped using it when I started training with Uncle Roger because me and my dad weren't seeing eye to eye."

The most lucrative clash in boxing history is expected to generate in the region of £332million with Mayweather taking £100million, a sum that will translate to the highest annual earnings for any athlete barely five months into the year.

Mayweather is the clear favourite but born-again Christian Pacquiao would be a far more popular winner, with his coach Freddie Roach going as far as to describe the fight as a battle of "good versus evil".

However, the long-serving pound-for-pound king views the reality that many fans want to see him fail as subordinate to his pursuit of wealth.

"I believe in self-preservation. Me first, then everyone else. But me first. Nobody is going to love Floyd Mayweather like Floyd Mayweather," Mayweather said.

"Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Floyd Mayweather lives for Floyd Mayweather, no matter what anyone says.

"A business mind - whether you pay to see me win or pay to see me lose, you're paying and I'm collecting."

While Mayweather's willingness to flaunt his wealth in a lavish lifestyle of sports cars and private jets has made the world's richest sportsman a divisive figure, he insists his work ethic identifies him as a good role model.

"Everything I got I got through hard work. I didn't go out there and rob anybody. People are jealous because I did it the American way? I pay my taxes!" Mayweather said.

"People say 'don't do it Floyd's way, don't look up to an athlete like Floyd who did it the honest way'.

"But then a kid's going to say 'we're not going to look up to Floyd, we'll look up to the guy down the street who got the Mercedes the illegal way'.

"And when that kid goes to prison, they say 'he should have done it Floyd's way'. I'm damned if I do and damned if I don't."

Source: PA