25 Things Floyd Mayweather Does To Get Ready For A Fight
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Love him or hate him— you can't deny that Floyd Mayweather is one of the most successful boxers of all time. He might not be the most exciting athlete to watch, but he gets the job done, and he does it with impressive ease. And Floyd has never been one to try and impress people— at least, not inside the ring, anyway. He has a game plan, and he sticks to it. His tactics are deceptively intelligent as a fighter, and time and time again he's proved himself to be the best boxer alive today. So, what's his secret?
How does Floyd Mayweather prepare for a fight? This is what really separates him from other boxers and other athletes, for that matter. The man is meticulous in his approach to fights. Everything must be exactly the way he wants it. Sure, he has his share of rituals and superstitions, just like every other professional athlete. But at the end of the day, the thing that this boxer focuses on is simply working out, and working out harder than his opponent could ever dream of. Here are 25 things Floyd Mayweather does to prepare himself for a fight.
He Listens To His "Pre-Fight Playlist"
The first thing you need to know about Floyd Mayweather's approach to a fight is that he takes his music very seriously. The boxer is often spotted wearing headphones or earbuds, and music seems to be a very important part of his pre-fight ritual. Ever wondered what kind of music Floyd Mayweather listens to while he pumps himself up for a fight?
Well, according to Vibe, Floyd Mayweather actually shared his pre-fight playlist in its entirety, and anyone is now able to have a look at the music he listens to.
There are some predictable songs on there like 50 Cent, but there are also some surprising tunes like MC Hammer's, "Can't Touch This."
He Spars With Much Younger Boxers
Sparring is one of the most common ways to train for a fight, and it's pretty much mandatory. You can do all the training and dieting you can to prepare yourself for fighting, but nothing compares to the real thing. Sparring is about as close as a boxer will come to a real fight in the weeks leading up to his fight, and Floyd Mayweather implements sparring as a big part of his pre-fight training.
Nate Jones, Mayweather's close friends and assistant trainer, revealed to the LA Times that Floyd was sparring with guys who were much, much younger than he was— and still beating them.
This was before the Connor McGregor fight, and Nate Jones revealed: "Floyd's thing is he needs to get ready to fight someone like Mike Tyson. Because losing is like death to him. He'll never take anyone lightly. Did you see his work today? It's amazing. He's taking on kids 22-23 years old and burning them out."
He Doesn't Party
Although Floyd Mayweather has something of a reputation for being a party animal, that never gets in the way of his career and more importantly, his training. He is able to balance his wild life and the life of a top-level athlete in the way that not many people can, and if you ask him how he does it, his answer will be simple— don't drink or get intoxicated.
In an article by Complex, it was revealed that Floyd Mayweather never partakes in alcohol or any kind of intoxicating substance, and apparently, he thinks this is a huge part of why he's not only been so successful in his career but why he's been able to do it for so long.
His "Entourage" Must Sit In Very Specific Seats Ringside
Floyd Mayweather is also famous for his love of women, and he has had up to seven girlfriends at one time, as Bad Left Hook reported. They're not often seen or photographed together, but apparently, Floyd Mayweather sees it as very important that they attend his fights.
The boxer is almost obsessive over where his lady friends sit in their ringside seats.
According to Bad Left Hook, a Yahoo article revealed that Floyd Mayweather meticulously plans out where every single one of his entourage sits in their ringside seats, both male and female. For some reason, this is very important to him, and he sees to their seating plans personally.
He Eats A Massive Meal After The Second Weigh-In
Eating right is a huge part of a good pre-fight training ritual, and Floyd Mayweather is a firm believer in the power of a good diet. There are many things that go into the way he builds his diet, but according to Bad Left Hook, Floyd Mayweather places enormous importance on what he eats immediately after the second weigh in.
According to the article, Floyd Mayweather "races home" after the second weigh-in and eats "six steaks, plus, pasta, potatoes, chicken, and vegetables."
That is an incredible amount of food, but obviously, this is all part of some greater strategy that Floyd Mayweather has developed.
He Shadow Boxes In The Bathroom
Shadow boxing, like sparring, is an integral part of boxing training. If you've ever shadow boxed before, you know that it's deceptively tiring, and it reveals more of your strengths and weaknesses than you might expect. You're basically boxing against yourself, or against an imaginary opponent, moving and jabbing as if it were a real fight.
According to Yahoo Sports, Floyd Mayweather would routinely get up in the middle of the night and shadow box in his bathroom. This could be a totally random time during the night. This shows just how dedicated this boxer really is. He literally never stops training.
He Tries To Get In His Opponent's Head
This is another way in which Mayweather prepares for a fight, which shouldn't be too much of a surprise for anyone to believe. Time and time again, we've witnessed Floyd Mayweather trash talk and get inside the head of his opponent— and it works.
His ex-partner, Josie Harris, was quoted by Yahoo Sports as saying: "It is kind of fascinating for him to get that strategy of no matter how strong physically you are, if you can break them down mentally, they don't have a chance."
"He has figured it out. He has not shared a lot of that secret to some other boxers. He might share his secret when he retires, but it is definitely a mental thing."
He Stays Away From His Wife Before A Fight
Another one of Floyd Mayweather's somewhat surprising pre-fight rituals is total and complete abstinence. According to many sources, it's a key part of his pre-fight training ritual, and he never ever breaks this superstition. Some say that it's backed by science, while others refer to it as just a "wive's tale."
Inverse explored why Mayweather abstains from intimacy and whether or not it actually has any basis in science. And according to them, it would not give a fighter any kind of scientifically based advantage over another fighter. Still, some boxing coaches and trainers insist that this results in more testosterone on fight day, for example.
He Never Bets On Himself
We all know that Floyd Mayweather is a gambling man. He makes no secret of this, and he often posts pictures of himself on social media making huge bets. Obviously, he also shares his equally large winnings. But has this boxer ever bet on himself? He would have won insane amounts of money if so...
According to an article by Business Insider, Floyd Mayweather has never bet a single dollar on himself.
Although some rumors might suggest otherwise, the article quotes sources which claim that the boxer is actually very superstitious about betting on himself, and that's the reason why he's never put money on himself to win.
He Ate Pretty Much The Same Meal Every Single Day Before The McGregor Fight
We've mentioned diet before, and there's no understating how important this factor is in any type of training, boxing or anything. The phrase "you are what you eat" is 100% true when it comes to athletes, and it should come as no surprise that almost every professional athlete in the world must adhere to a strict meal plan in an almost religious manner.
Floyd is no exception, and he puts everything in the hands of his personal chef. According to the chef, Floyd Mayweather is not someone who favors variety.
According to Esquire, he eats meals consisting of eggs, home fries, grits, bacon, turkey sausage, and ham. But every day, almost without fail, the boxer always has spaghetti with Bolognese sauce.
He Is Obsessed With Fighting On Certain Dates
Every professional athlete has certain things that they're superstitious about. Even if they don't like to admit it, most athletes have certain rituals and habits that they must do leading up to a game. Whether it's the way hockey players tape their sticks or soccer players lace up their cleats, everyone has their own special way of doing things before the main event.
Floyd is no different, and for him, dates are apparently very important. When he fought Pacquiao, he made it adamantly clear that he wanted to fight on May 2nd, the weekend of Cinco De Mayo.
He referred to this date as "Cinco De Mayweather," and even made it an official condition of the fight contract, as Fight Saga reported.
He's All About Yoga
Before you accuse all people who do yoga of being sissies, you may want to consider the fact that arguably the greatest boxer in the world is a huge supporter of the practice. Floyd isn't shy about it, either, and shared images of himself doing Bikram Yoga on his social media. This is a man who has clearly done a lot of research into training techniques and understands the benefit of this age-old practice.
In an article by the Telegraph, a professional boxing trainer ran through all the things that Floyd would be doing for his pre-fight training regimen, and yoga was a huge part of it.
He claimed that Floyd had done yoga before fighting Pacquiao, and that is was important for him because of his age.
Swimming Is A Big Part Of His Training
Floyd Mayweather loves to visit various tropical resorts, and with his fighting days pretty much behind him, he can look forward to one long vacation during his retirement. He's undoubtedly going to be doing a lot of swimming while in these tropical resorts, but the truth is, that Floyd swims when he's training as well as when he's relaxing.
According to the same aforementioned article by the Telegraph, Floyd Mayweather most likely starts off one day of training per week with a 30-minute swim.
The article claims that swimming is a great way to wake up your muscles without putting too much strain on your joints.
Visualization Is Key
Visualization is a key part of most athlete's success today. It's something that may seem like new age pseudoscience to some, but as Floyd Mayweather will tell you himself, it really works.
As the fight day draws near, Floyd Mayweather will be spending more and more time visualizing himself in the ring.
The aforementioned article by the Telegraph claims that Floyd might very well devote an entire "rest day" to visualizing his future success. The aforementioned article by Yahoo Sports has Josie Debbie claiming that Floyd spends time before he gets into the ring visualizing as well.
VR Boxing Is The New Way To Train
To be honest, we don't know whether or not Floyd Mayweather actually uses his new Virtual Reality boxing game himself, but he does seem to suggest that it's a great way to train.
That's right, Floyd Mayweather now has his very own boxing video game, and it's in the virtual reality format. In an article by Men's Health in 2018, Floyd spoke about how it's a great way to train whenever you feel like it.
Will it make you a better boxer? As Floyd himself said in the article: "It doesn't really matter if they're throwing their punches wrong. It's all about fitness, it's not about becoming a fighter or becoming a boxer. It's about burning calories. Like I said, your health is your wealth. If you look good, you feel good."
He's Superstitious About Numbers
We've already talked about some of Floyd's superstitions and rituals, including his supposed obsession with the second of May. But do numbers, in general, hold some sort of significance for this amazing boxer? Many of us have our own "lucky numbers," but what about Floyd?
In an interview with Men's Health in 2018, Floyd did, in fact, reveal that he is superstitious about numbers. Well, one number, in particular, to be exact— 50.
He admitted in the interview: "I'm retired. I came back one last time because we needed an even number. So we were at 49, so we needed an even number so we went to number 50."
He Just Works Out Extremely Hard
If there's one thing that Floyd Mayweather is known for, it's total dedication to training and his pre-fight regimen. People have expressed total amazement at the fact that Floyd Mayweather doesn't have to be told to work harder. He knows what he has to do, and does it.
Speaking to Ask Men, he describes himself as a "Gym Rat," saying he was born to work out and work out hard. He stated: "Absolutely. Genetics. I was born to, you know, be a gym rat. To work out. I don't think working out really has anything to do with money. I mean, you have a lot of people who aren't in a great financial situation, but their bodies look amazing."
He Visited The Gentleman's Club, Which He Owns, Every Night Before The McGregor Fight
We'll talk about Mayweather's sleep schedule later, but let's just say that Mayweather somehow manages to fit in a visit to his very own gentleman's club (which he owns) every single night, even after a day's worth of training. How is this even possible? Well, the system obviously works for him.
In an article published by the Washington Post in 2017, it was alleged that not only was Mayweather in his own club, "Girl Collection," every night until the morning hours while training to fight McGregor, he was also in that same club the night before the actual fight itself. When asked to explain how he managed to have time for all this, he simply stated: “How do I have time? I mean, I’m living. That’s how I have time. That’s life.”
5-8 Mile Run
One thing that Floyd Mayweather makes sure to work on when he trains for fights is endurance. This has been a key part of his game since the very beginning, and he routinely outlasts his opponents in the ring with a very tactical approach to fighting. It was clear that Floyd Mayweather had the edge in the McGregor fight because his endurance was so good.
So how does he work on his endurance during training? Well, a big part of that has to do with running. As Muscle Prodigy attests, Floyd Mayweather runs 5 to 8 miles routinely during his training, as this works on muscle fibers that are crucial to surviving multiple rounds in the ring.
While Training, He Thinks About What His Opponent Is Doing
When you start to seriously train, it can get very draining after many days of continuously grueling workouts. It can become to feel like a battle between the mind and the body. Your body is just telling you to give up, whereas your mind desperately wants to keep going.
So how does Floyd Mayweather keep himself motivated? Well, in an article by Men's Health, he was quoted as saying: “Every day that I go to the boxing gym, I think about what my opponent is doing. In my mind, I’m trying to outwork my opponent. That’s what keeps me physically able to go out there and perform and not get tired. Each time I’m pushing myself more and more to the limit.”
He Loves Using The Medicine Ball Rather Than Free Weights
A lot of people these days are obsessed with using free weights, whether they're dumbells or barbells. It can get very easy to become fixated on how much weight you can lift. But you run the danger of reducing the entire workout to a simple workout, and other types of workouts can provide different benefits.
One athlete who doesn't like to use free weights very often is Floyd Mayweather, according to an article by Men's Health. Instead, the famed boxer relies on a medicine ball. He throws it up, catches it, and resets. This is a very good way to work your upper body that doesn't require weights, and judging by Mayweather's success in the ring, it works.
He Has A Weird Sleep Schedule
Getting enough sleep is very important when working out, and those who flake out on the number of hours tend to have trouble with tons of things, not just building muscle. All kinds of health problems can result from not getting enough sleep, or not enough quality sleep.
So what's Floyd Mayweather's philosophy on sleep? Well, it's actually quite strange, according to an article by The Irish Examiner. The article claimed that Floyd Mayweather had admitted to going to sleep at 6 or 7 in the morning, waking up at 2:30 p.m., hitting the gym, eating, and then, finally, going for an 8 mile run in the evening. Wow.
He Strengthens His Neck
Something you might not know about boxers is that they take special care with their neck muscles. It makes total sense when you think about it, as the neck muscles are what support the head, and having strong neck muscles helps boxers absorb the impacts from punches to the head, which can potentially knock them out, ending the fight.
An article by Fortis went into detail about how Floyd Mayweather strengthens and conditions his neck muscles, and he apparently does this by attaching weights to his head and then lifting them using only his neck muscles. It looks pretty weird, but obviously, it works.
He Has A Personal Chef That Charges $1,000 Per Plate
We've talked before about how important diet is, and how Floyd Mayweather eats in order to prepare for his next big fight. It's obvious that the boxer takes this part of training very seriously, but how much does he actually control his diet? As it turns out, he puts his diet in the hands of someone else.
As Fortis reports in an article about Mayweather's training and diet, the boxer has his own personal chef who charges a whopping $1,000 per plate. The chef, known as "Chef Q," supplies him with all the proteins, fibers and carbohydrates he needs, and is available for service 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.
He Promotes His Own Fights
One of the biggest parts of preparing for a fight is promoting it. Normally, the boxer himself has nothing to do with promoting the fight and focuses solely on training. But Floyd is an exception. He actually owns his own production team, "The Money Team," and as such, he bags two paychecks— one for boxing, and one for promoting.
This was pointed out in an article by Addicted2Success, and it just goes to show how hard Floyd Mayweather has worked to achieve the kind of success he now enjoys. It was a very smart business move, and Floyd's entrepreneurial mind is something he doesn't often get credit for. Floyd represents himself in the boxing world— a simple but genius decision.
References vibe.com, complex.com, badlefthook.com, yahoo.com, inverse.com, businessinsider.com, esquire.com, fightsaga.com, telegraph.co.uk, menshealth.com, thewashingtonpost.com, muscleprodigy.com irishexaminer.com, fortisfight.com, addicted2success.com
