"It was very, very difficult. We forced them to fight. We gave them no choice. Al and Bob and HBO and Showtime were going back and forth, trying to make the fight happen. It was a battle, but everybody is happy now and it's time to give the people what they want to see. Everyone was saying, 'Sign the contract! Sign the contract!' As soon as Arum signed and as soon as Manny signed, Al Haymon brought the contract right to me and I signed the contract with no problem at all," stated undefeated pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather, who talked about how his May 2 showdown with 8-division world champion Manny Pacquiao was finally able to be made after six years in the making. According to Mayweather, it was his hour-long meeting with Pacquiao, following their encounter at a Miami Heat game, that allowed his powerful and influential advisor, Al Haymon, to finalize what had been a difficult back-and-forth process.
"I think how we were able to make the fight this time was me sitting down and meeting with Pacquiao one on one. Once we sat down one on one, it had an awful lot to do with Al Haymon. I stayed on top of Al day in and day out. Stephen Espinoza and Al and Leonard Ellerbe was communicating back and forth all day just trying to make the fight happen. It was extremely difficult, but like I said before, I'm truly blessed to be in a position to make nine figures in thirty-six minutes," Mayweather explained during a recent conversation with FightHype.com. "Al Haymon, I couldn't choose a better man to have in my corner. He's been like a father to me. He has taught me about business. He's such a brilliant business man. He came to my house. We was at my house sitting down in Vegas. We had a meeting, just about business outside of boxing, but then we got to talking about boxing. I said, 'What do you think about the Pacquiao fight?' He said, 'I really don't know. Do you want the fight?' I said, 'Absolutely!' I said, 'Can you make it happen?' He said, 'I can try my best.' And I said, 'Well you told me we don't ever try to do anything. We do it! So can you do it?' He said, 'I'ma do it!' And that's what we did."
Mayweather added, "The great thing about my career is I did it my way. A lot of guys are forced to do things that they don't want to do. I honestly believe that, at this particular time, even if Pacquiao didn't want to fight, he has no choice because his back is against the wall. The reason why his back is against the wall is because he needs the money. I don't. Every property that I have, from Miami to LA to Las Vegas, is paid for. So I'm blessed, and I didn't do it by myself. My team is around me every day and everybody that has supported me throughout my 19-year career, I'm thankful for."
CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL INTERVIEW WITH UNDEFEATED POUND-FOR-POUND KING FLOYD MAYWEATHER
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