Floyd Mayweather Media Workout: Top Takeaways Ahead of Manny Pacquiao Fight

In preparation for his May 2 superfight against Manny Pacquiao, Floyd Mayweather opened his Tuesday workout to the media from Mayweather Boxing Club in Las Vegas.

Mayweather is always conscious about his brand and only added more fanfare and hype leading up to his bout with Pac-Man, which will be one of the biggest and probably the most lucrative in boxing history.

The 47-0 living legend made media members wait a long while after his scheduled 7 p.m. ET start time, getting his training underway about two hours later than expected. ESPN's Dan Rafael weighed in on the matter:

But Mayweather did make an appearance, as promised—albeit after arriving more than fashionably late to the ring.

Pacquiao poked a bit of fun at Mayweather's tardiness:

Mayweather Promotions logged prior footage of Money May's training and what one of his articulated goals is:

With such an accomplished career to date, it's safe to say what Mayweather has done in the ring is rather extraordinary. The best may be yet to come if he finds a way to defeat Pacquiao, though.

Wearing a shirt with "TBE" embroidered on the back, meaning "The Best Ever," Mayweather began Tuesday's workout by engaging in a sparring session with his uncle that was slow to start but picked up intensity as it wore on.

Showtime Sports captured just how much attention Mayweather's Las Vegas workout drew:

After sparring, the next move for Mayweather was a changing of gloves as he prepared to take on the heavy punching bag. Then, Mayweather returned to sparring with his uncle for another light, more prolonged session, showing off an arsenal of diverse moves.

Once that was finished, Mayweather worked on pads with blows to the body, something that ought to factor into the Pacquiao bout. More time with the heavy bag followed.

When Mayweather made his way to the speed bag, someone on his team placed tape over Pacquiao's eyes and mouth on a poster just behind where Mayweather was punching. He did some core training, volleying back and forth between the speed bag and those activities for quite some time.

Leonard Ellerbe, the promotion company's CEO, explained prior to Mayweather's workout that his fighter wasn't going to hold anything back. Often as he caters to the cameras, Mayweather was determined to get just a bit better leading up to his impending encounter with Pacquiao.

Mayweather looked sharp in his open workout on Tuesday, but it's quite another matter to get the job done in the ring in the heat of actual competition. The 38-year-old veteran is known for his technical prowess and ability to wear opponents down with a methodical style predicated on strong defense, quickness and anticipation.

Prior to suiting up on Tuesday, Mayweather spoke to reporters about how he matches up with Pacquiao, per The Associated Press' Tim Dahlberg:

"

We'll see what he brings to the table. Our styles are totally different. I fight with smarts. Every move is calculated. Every move is thought out. I'm always 5-10 steps ahead of my opponent. [...] I don't know if he can make adjustments. I'm able to make adjustments. He comes at different angles so we'll have to see. But he's facing a solid, strong welterweight.

"

Mayweather also mentioned how Pacquiao purportedly wore lifts in his shoes to appear taller than he actually was at last month's press conference in Los Angeles.

Whichever tactics he plans to use against Pacquiao's lightning-fast combinations aren't anything Mayweather can reveal in a light training workout. Although it was nice to see him in action, Mayweather didn't showcase anything revelatory in terms of his boxing skills in the workout.

All Tuesday's performance was intended to do was move the needle with a couple of weeks still remaining before Mayweather actually steps in between the ropes for his long-awaited battle with Pacquiao. That mission was accomplished well enough to hold fans and media over, offering fresh fodder and a fitting precursor for the far-bigger stakes on the horizon.