Boxing: Ringmaster Floyd cashing in until final act

Floyd Mayweather Jr says he will give US$50 million to each of his four children after his fight in Las Vegas against Manny Pacquiao.

As retirement from the ring draws near, money remains boxer’s driving force.

In its purest form, professional boxing is not a sport. It is a business. Floyd Mayweather against Manny Pacquiao has become exactly that, a contract between two prize fighters both nearing the end of glittering ring careers lasting nearly 20 years, the two men weighed down by world-title belts in the ring, and even more baggage outside it.

As they came face to face at the MGM Grand hotel in one of the two set pieces before they touch gloves tomorrow for bragging rights to proclaim themselves the leading fighter of the era, Mayweather displayed a growing, disarming maturity. It is no longer a legacy fight for him, it is about what he can secure for the future.

Revealing that he would earn in the region of $200 million for this fight - and that Pacquiao would have earned $100 million for himself if the two fighters had formed their own contract without promoters - Mayweather explained that his career earnings of $650 million, to him, are now more important than his boxing legacy of the vaunted unbeaten 47-0 record.

"A 19-year career, with no punishment on the body and hundreds of millions in the bank. Now that's something to talk about. At the end of the day, my daughter can't eat no zero. She can't spend a boxing record," he said.

"When we go back and think about Ali, he called himself 'The Greatest'. A lot of that had to do with him standing for a cause. He stood for something in his era. I don't think one fight, period, defines my career. All 47 parts play a major key."

Then he was back to business. The money. "I've made a lot of smart investments. A lot of time people say, 'Oh Floyd, he's not going to have nothing when his career's over'. But I make calculated moves. Of course, I'm only human, I made a lot of mistakes when I was young. But I'm A-OK.

"Look, I made 11 million dollars in the last 48 hours. I'm a pay-per-view fighter. Of course, I am a Showtime and CBS fighter, but I'm the one that started 24-7 [the televised series to promote fights] from the beginning. When you go back to 24-7 or All Access, look at the level I took it to. I had to have a brilliant game plan also. I'm glad that I was very outspoken. I'm glad I was flashy. But I was young.

"Now I'm close to that big 40. I'm very, very close. I look at things totally different. I don't have to come here and bash Manny Pacquiao. I don't have to bash Freddie Roach.

"I know what I can do, I know what I bring to the table. When all's said and done, when the fight is over Saturday (Sunday, NZ time), when I go home, even 10 years from now, I'm still going to be getting a seven-figure cheque every month. And I'm going to make sure my kids get the best education. At the end of the day that's what it's really all about. My family."

Mayweather exemplified that by stating that his earnings from the richest fight in history will be divided between his four children. "Money, my kids, they are the things [that really matter]. ... If all my kids, just from this fight, get 50 million apiece, I think I made a smart move. I love my children. It's been bothering me a lot that three of them I haven't been able to see. You know how women are sometimes," said Mayweather, who served two months in Clark County jail, in Las Vegas, in the summer of 2012 for domestic violence.

Those close to Mayweather can see he is near the end. Like his father, who told the Daily Telegraph this week that it was time to hang the gloves up. "My father was right. It's time for me to walk away," Mayweather jnr concurred. He will honour the sixth of his six-fight deal with Showtime in September, and then retire. There is a world weariness about Mayweather, something in his eyes, signs that this fighter is growing up, seeing the bigger picture of things that matter, and looking beyond the world of men battering each other with leather in a form of sport and entertainment.

"I don't even Google my name. I don't worry about anything. My life is calm until I go out into the public. When I go out, it's a riot - every day. But I sit back and say to myself, damn, I'm real thankful for my fans ... I look at it as my job to go and do what I've got to do. I've done a great job in my professional career. Two fights left.

Right now I'm TBE [The Best Ever] and before the fight and after the fight I'm still going to be TBE. Even if I didn't fight Manny Pacquiao, that don't define my career."

But Mayweather is fighting Manny Pacquiao. And it will be seen by many as the defining fight of his career.