It’s a family affair

LAS VEGAS. — Floyd Mayweather Jr. and his father have had a stormy relationship, but they are back together for the fighter’s toughest test yet against Manny Pacquiao. Over the years, Mayweather Sr. has spent long stretches estranged from his son because of their clashing egos and the father’s stints in jail, including a five-year sentence two decades ago on a drug trafficking conviction.

Mayweather Sr., who turned to training after his own boxing career was cut short when he was shot in the leg during a family dispute, once almost took a job training Oscar De La Hoya against his son. But the Mayweathers have reconciled and Mayweather Sr. has been in his son’s corner for the last four fights.

And on Saturday, the 62-year-old Mayweather Sr. will shepherd his now-grown namesake into the ring at the MGM Grand Hotel to take on Filipino icon Pacquiao in a fight that will go a long way to determining who was the greatest fighter of their era.

“It’s just a blessing,” Mayweather Jr. told reporters at a media workout in Las Vegas as part of the build up to Saturday’s blockbuster bout at the Grand Garden Arena.

“I come in the gym and work. I try to focus on doing my job and being the best at my job. My father deserves credit because I wouldn’t be a fighter if it wasn’t for my father.”

Mayweather Sr. likes to tell a story of when his son was just a baby and he would put him down on the bed at their house and move his tiny hands in punching motions.

“One day I came into the room and he’s laying back on the pillow doing just what I was showing him,” Mayweather Sr. said.

“I said, ‘This is it. He’s going to be a fighter.”

There’s another story involving his son that Mayweather Sr. is less comfortable talking about, but he tells it anyway.

Sitting in a chair in his Grand Rapids, Michigan home with his toddler son in his arms, Mayweather Sr. found himself staring down the barrel of a 20-gauge shotgun .

The shotgun was held by his brother-in-law, who had decided to take matters into his own hands after being told he had worn out his welcome at the Mayweather home. Mayweather Sr. ignored the pleas of the child’s mother, hanging onto the boy as the only thing saving him from death.

“She was trying to get the baby. “Give me my baby, give me my baby,” Mayweather Sr. said. “But you are not going to get this baby, because this was my only shield.”

“I got shot with him in my hands,” Mayweather Sr recalled and added “He would have killed me.”

The blast destroyed the left calf of the father but Mayweather Jr. escaped that incident unscathed. — AFP.