‘I Would Love to Work With Him’

Count Floyd
Mayweather Jr. among those interested in Francis
Ngannou’s transition to boxing.

In an interview on Wednesday with BetOnline.ag,
Mayweather (50-0, 27 KOs) discussed a litany of topics including
the state of boxing and what advice he would give a younger boxer.
The conversation largely began with one about MMA fighters crossing
over to the sweet science, whether in the form of exhibitions or
even pro matches. Former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight king
Francis
Ngannou’s name was mentioned among those, and Mayweather spoke
about him specifically.

“I would love to work with him, actually,” Mayweather said. “I
would love to work with him; I would love to sign him to Mayweather
Promotions. Very skilled guy, he was unbelievable from the
highlights that I was able to see in MMA. I would like to work with
him someday. If he wants to fight one of the top heavyweight guys,
he should do it.”

Mayweather, 46, promotes and trains several boxers. While he still
competes actively through exhibitions, he has found some joy in
coaching. If the situation arose, “Money” would be interested in
training Ngannou.

“Absolutely,” Mayweather answered. “It’s gonna take a while…I mean,
I can’t say it’s gonna take a while because in the heavyweight
division, it takes just one shot. At any weight class, actually, it
takes just one shot. So, with his size and his strength and his
power, anything can happen…he’s powerful, and with his power and
his toughness, he’s able to make some noise in the heavyweight
division.”

Mayweather briefly touched on an upcoming matchup, but was coy to
reveal any detail other than that it will take place in the U.S. It
will be an exhibition, as all of his bouts post-Conor
McGregor have been, instead of going on his professional
record. This would allow the 46-year-old to play to entertain the
crowd without the stakes of tarnishing his unblemished record. He
has, however, knocked a few of those foes out, flattening Tenshin
Nasukawa in 2018 before wiping out Mikuru
Asakura and Deji Olatunji in 2022.

As it pertained to offering advice, Mayweather had a simple line:
“The less you get hit, the longer you can last.”