Floyd Mayweather has been mocked by fans for hosting a "crazy" pizza party as he prepares for his return to the boxing ring this weekend.
The former multiple-weight world champion will face Don Moore on Saturday night in a rescheduled exhibition bout after the pair's original date was cancelled due to the passing of the President of the UAE. Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan died aged 73, and a 40-day mourning period including three days of work suspensions that saw last weekend's event postponed.
And ahead of his third major exhibition fight since retiring in 2017, Mayweather shared a video showing himself preparing with a "crazy" party, with pizza boxes thrown across his hotel room. Instagram news outlet TheBreadBatch clipped the video, with fans joking about Mayweather's 'partying' antics in the comments section.
"Having Pizza = Crazy Party", one fan noted in a joking comment, with another sarcastically adding "what an absolute party rocker," and one more saying "Floyd’s a walking meme".
Other fans joked that Mayweather shouldn't be spending money on pizza while Logan Paul, his last opponent, still allegedly awaits payment for their June 2021 meeting. "Logan’s money and he ain’t getting no pizza," one commented, while another added: "Damn they got Logan Pauls money in there."
The video shows Mayweather in a swanky hotel room, with Pitfire pizza, a Dubai-based company, having provided the food for a supposedly "crazy" party. It's a standard tactic from the legendary 50-0 boxer to try and convince fans he hasn't been training before a big exhibition bout.
Mayweather and Moore will now meet in Abu Dhabi although further venue details have not been released. This is as opposed to atop the Burj Al-Arab in Dubai as initially planned, with a sandstorm expected in the region this weekend.
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The boxer said in a post last night: "UAE! The fight will take place in #AbuDhabi this Saturday, May 21st. The expected sand storm won’t stop this event. I look forward to putting on a show for all my fans in person and worldwide. Stay tuned for more details on tickets and venue!"
There had reportedly been issues with the quick rescheduling, as it had been expected he would fight in front of a tiny crowd in the double digits on a helipad atop the skyscraper. But now due to the inclement weather expected, it will be done at the more standard venue, and it seems more tickets will be made available today and tomorrow.
Mayweather had reportedly issued an ultimatum to the event's organisers by stating: "Either I box Saturday or I don't come." All of the fighters who were involved on the card, including Anderson Silva, remained close to the venue.
This had one exception; Delfine Persoon who caught a flight home to Belgium after hearing the news of last weekend's cancellation. She has since returned to the desert.
