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World champ Mayweather happy to play the bad guy

Floyd Mayweather doesn't mind playing a bad guy if it helps make him a rich guy because growing up around criminals has pushed him to become boxing's top star and an undefeated champion.

The unbeaten 30-year-old puts his World Boxing Council welterweight crown at stake tomorrow against English rival Ricky Hatton in a showdown that has drawn thousands of Britons to Las Vegas.

"Instead of going to the UK, I can bring the UK to me," Mayweather said.

"Pretty Boy Floyd" is not shy about making over-the-top comments and talking of himself in the third person.

"It's a business. I'm a businessman," Mayweather said. "In each fight there has got to be a good guy and a bad guy. You just have to deal with it and fight through everything."

"Floyd is always giving back. They never talk about Floyd Mayweather feeding 600 families for Thanksgiving or the Christmas charity event I'm having," he said.

It's quite a jump to selling ringside seats for US$15,000 for a man who survived a troubled youth with his father jailed for selling drugs and once shot before his eyes as he grew up poor in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

"I'm just a kid that came from nothing and fought my way to the top, beating everybody they put in front of me," Mayweather said. "I don't sell drugs to people. I learned from my dad's mistakes. I got it legally, from hard work and dedication."

Even when Mayweather plays the mouthy money flasher he recalls the hard times and says, "stuff like that is what's going to keep me grounded."

Mayweather has won six world titles in five weight classes without a loss in the past decade.

"I am the greatest and this is my time," Mayweather said. "I'm not disrespecting Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson. I've accomplished something no other fighter has. I've reigned for a decade and lost to nobody."

"I'm not arrogant. I'm cocky. I'm abnormal. I bring something different to the table. I came from a harsh background," Mayweather said.
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