LOS ANGELESùFloyd Mayweather Jr. is a champion boxer and has tested his moves on Dancing With the Stars. Now the man many consider the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world is preparing to drop the gloves and do some wrasslin.’
A $20 million payday awaits the undefeated WBC welterweight champion when he takes on Big Show as part of WWE’s WrestleMania XXIV at Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Fla., on March 30. “It’s entertainment. You have a chance to just be you and do what you want to do,” Mayweather said after a chaotic Staples Center event that masqueraded as a news conference. The boxer nicknamed “Money” clearly likes the way WWE does business.
“Wrestling takes care of business right on the spot,” Mayweather said. “Whatever they say they’re going to do, they do it right on the spot. There’s no waiting three, four, five months. Quick results, quick money. Quick big money, too.” His manager Leonard Ellerbee and WWE executive Shane McMahon confirmed Mayweather’s eight-figure payday for the outdoor match to be shown live on pay-per-view.
Mayweather incited the couple hundred of already hyped fans at Staples Center by whipping out a thick wad of cash and repeatedly tossing $100, $50 and $20 bills into the crowd that had nearly as many women as men. A mad scramble ensued, with a light pole nearly getting knocked over and two small children caught in the chaos.
One lucky man emerged from the pileup clutching six $100 bills. Mayweather played to the frenzied crowd after appearing from behind a black curtain wearing a New York Yankees jacket and cap. Fans shouted insults and the name of hometown hero Oscar De La Hoya at Mayweather.
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