“You know I was in the sport for 11 years and I was World champion for 10 years. When it comes July 18th, I don’t have to tell you guys what I’m going to do cause you already know what I’m going to do. He’s [Juan Manuel Marquez] going to bring his ‘A’ game and I’m going to bring my ‘A’ game.”
“Once again, a small man will never retire me. You all know that. I’m the king. I’m here to stay. I left on the top and came back on the top, and you know I’m here to fight and reclaim what’s mine. I’m the king and nobody has ever taken my thrown, so how am I not the king if nobody has ever took my thrown? And so you have all these fighters out there claiming to be the best.
I have fans coming up to me all day and night lately asking me who think is going to win (tonight’s bout between Ricky Hatton and Manny Pacquiao). Well, I to me any many can win. It’s a gamble. But when you bet on Floyd Mayweather, that’s for sure money. So when you ask me, I say put your money under your mattress and wait until July 18th, and then pull it out.”
And that’s how I look at it. I want you guys to tune into 24/7. While I’m up here right now, we’re filming 24/7. We’re going to do some things different this camp. Boxing is number #1. The sport is here to stay. The reason why is this: I’m not knocking any other sport, but boxing takes time and hard work, dedication and skills.
The main thing that boxing takes is skills. You got other sports out there claiming that they are bigger and better. But you know, we make the most money. You got fighters coming off the streets becoming number #1. That’s not going to happen in the sport of boxing.
You must dedicate yourself, work hard and appreciate the sport. I’m back. This sport is here to stay. Boxing isn’t going anywhere, and we showed you in a recession what we could do. And me and Ricky Hatton showed what we can do. De La Hoya-Pacquiao showed you what they could do in a recession.
So there’s a lot of big fights out there. Oscar said he’s though. He’ll come back once I get through this small man [Juan Manuel Marquez]. Man, he’ll [De La Hoya] come back and we’ll steal another $50 or 60 million. It’s nothing. This is how the sport goes. It’s business.
And, Oscar, we don’t really like each other, but I got to love you because we make money with each other. That’s what it is. MGM Grand, let’s do it again, Baby.
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