With a little over a month left before what could be the biggest fight in boxing history takes place, both Oscar Dela Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr. are said to be in deeply intensified training camps. Freddie Roach (Trainer of Dela Hoya) has loudly stated to the world that the ‘honeymoon’ stage is over and the street grindin’ has begun as his fighter is putting in many hours of roadwork and sparring. The mood in Dela Hoya’s camp is said to be quite serious, or perhaps I should say quiet and serious as reports state the star pugilist has been so focused in training that he has completely shed all sound, discarding distractions such as Ipods, music of any kind and unwanted guest. In the Mayweather camp on the other hand things are said to be intense yet loose and vibrant as the sounds of 50 Cent and Philthy Rich Records recording artist H Flow blast through the airwaves in unison with the speedy Mayweather hitting the mitts of his trainer, Roger Mayweather. Ironically both fighters are preparing for this fight by day, but by night sleeping in the comfort of their own homes and driving around town in their own cars. Both fighters say that being around their normal environments prior to a fight should be no extra added temptation to break any training habits. For Floyd Mayweather Jr. this is a typical thing as he usually sets up camp in his home based city to be close enough to spend his off hours with his kids and family. For Oscar, this isn’t something that happens often but in his own words it’s been nothing short of “rejuvenating and motivating” to come home from training and see his the faces of his wife and sons. Motivating factor it may be, but one thing for sure, in this situation if either man needs extra added motivation their in the wrong sport. The adrenaline one gets as merely a fan in anticipation of this fight is as stimulating as few things in life and the rush will finally culminate a few moments after 11pm on that star-studded night in the MGM Grand where the eyes of the world will watch. Until then, it’ll be grindin’, grindin’, and more grindin’ as both fighters are training harder than perhaps ever before. Freddie Roach, an avid film watcher of his pupil’s opponents has already stated on record that he’s “personally sick of watching film of Floyd Mayweather ” already. They spend tons of time analyzing every move of the quick boxer and now it’s a matter of trying to comprise plans to overshadow his elusiveness. For Floyd and trainer (uncle) Roger Mayweather it’s been alot of sparring in addition to Floyd’s usual stiff conditioning workload. Floyd has always (even when not training for a fight) been known to run a minimal 5 to 7 miles daily so with a conditioning regimen already that deep, he still maintains that in addition to his breakdown of Dela Hoya tapes and sparring. Both fighters realize that they are in for the fight of their lives and with the world awaiting, the media will soon give everyone a sneak peak at the daily regimen from both camps in an HBO exclusive titled “Dela Hoya/Mayweather 24/7” which will air in a four part series beginning April 15th. This comprehensive breakdown of the fighters will not only show the world how they’ve prepared for the mega fight, but also take a glimpse at the different, yet in many ways very similar roads the two fighters took to get on this stage. Yeah it’s still a month away, but the fact that we’re even talking about a show chronicling a fighters training camp tells even the harshest skeptic why the fight theme was affectionately dubbed “The World Awaits”.
In The Grind: With Only A Month Until The Mega-Fight, Mayweather And De La Hoya Prepare Intensely
Posted by Tim Starks on Mar 29, 2007 13:46
