More than 200 accredited press members from across the globe visited Mayweather Boxing Club in Las Vegas on Tuesday, April 14 to watch the undefeated champion during a 90-plus minute workout.
This was the only open training session before Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s May 2 fight against Manny Pacquiao.
Before his training session, which was streamed in high definition across various platforms, including YouTube and satellite feed, Mayweather responded to questions from the media inside a tent in a parking lot outside the gym.
“This was a difficult fight to make happen, but we made it happen. This fight is one of the biggest ever in boxing,” he said.
Mayweather also expressed confidence in his fighting abilities.
“Pacquiao is strong and solid but I don’t know if he can make adjustments like I can. I feel tremendous,” he said.
“Anyone can get hit with a great shot, but I can make more adjustments and Manny can’t.”
Although Mayweather is American, he chose to wear a Philippine-inspired shirt to the media day. The shirt had an image of the fighter covered in the colors of the Philippine flag and with a yellow sun behind his head.
“I love the Philippines. I love all the Philippine fans,” Mayweather said in an interview with GMA News.
The boxing sensation arrived late to his training session, which elicited a jab from Pacquiao. Pacquiao told Fred Sternberg (@Toofred), a sports and entertainment relations man he works with, that he would would arrive promptly on his media day workout to win a bet.
“I promise to not only arrive on time for my media day but EARLY to make @Toofred pay @FreddieRoach and me each a hamburger,” Pacquiao wrote on Twitter.
The showdown between Mayweather and Pacquiao has been called ‘The Fight of the Century’ and has been highly anticipated for years.
“Everything in life is about timing. I have no regrets that this fight didn’t take place five years ago. I didn’t think it was that big then, but it continued to get bigger and bigger. Not just in boxing, but outside of the sport. Pacquiao has continued to grow outside of the sport. We didn’t need to rush anything,” Mayweather said.
The live pay-per-view telecast of the bout will be co-produced and co-distributed by HBO Pay-Per-View and SHOWTIME PPV.
(www.asianjournal.com)
(Las Vegas April 16-22, 2015 Sec. A pg.1)