If you’re wondering what keeps 40-year-old Floyd Mayweather Jr. focused on ‘hard work and dedication’ as he prepares for his 50th career professional fight against Conor McGregor on Saturday night, the answer is simply.
His children.
“First and foremost, I fight for my family, my children,” Mayweather told ESPN in 2010. “I want to give them the best life possible, so I remember that with every fight and each victory is for them.”
Here is what you need to know about ‘Money’ Mayweather’s source of inspiration, his kids:
1. Floyd Mayweather Jr. Has 4 Children
https://www.instagram.com/p/BUUYFiklFXp/?taken-by=jirahmayweather
It’s probably a good thing that Mayweather Jr. is worth an estimated $340 million–and soon to be a lot more after his fight against McGregor–because he has four teenagers to look after: Sons Koraun, 17, and Zion, 16, and daughters Iyanna, 17, and Jirah, 13.
Though the 40-year-old’s family affairs have often been controversial, his children have remained by his side are often very public about their love for him:
2. His Children Come From 2 Different Mothers
Photos: instagram.com/josielharris and instagram.com/melissiarene
Mayweather childhood sweetheart and ex-girlfriend Josie Harris is mother to Koraun, Zion, and Jirah. Harris and Mayweather were very close during their teenage years, but over time the relationship frew from rocky to tumultuous to disastrous.
17-year-old Iyanna’s mother is Melissia Brim, who also has a controversial past with Mayweather.
3. Mayweather Spoils His Kids
Never one to be shy about flaunting his money or lavish lifestyle, Floyd Mayweather Jr. has no qualms with showering his kids with similarly extravagant gifts.
On Iyanna’s 14th birthday, her old man got her a $100,000 Mercedes 550 S-Class to go with her $120,000 G-Class. Mayweather must have then felt guilty that he didn’t spend enough on his little girl because the champ followed that gift with a 2014 Rolls-Royce Wraith, worth $400,000.
On Zion’s 16th birthday, his dad threw him a party complete with musical performances, dancers, bottle service, money booths and a brand new Mercedes-Benz:
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4. Mayweather Has Twice Pleaded Guilty to Domestic Abuse
Floyd Maywether Jr. is lead away in handcuffs at the Clark County Regional Justice Center as he surrenders to serve a three-month jail sentence. (Getty)
The boxer’s history of domestic abuse has been well documented, with Deadspin reporting that there have been seven separate physical assaults involving Mayweather. He has pleaded guilty to two of those: In 2002 to two counts of battery against Melissia Brim, and in 2010 to a count of reduced battery against Josie Harris.
The latter incident, which resulted in two months in jail for Mayweather, was in front of Koraun and Zion, who were 10 and 9 at the time. Mayweather reportedly told the kids he would “beat their asses if they left the house or called the police,” but they were eventually able to call the police and serve as witnesses.
5. His Eldest, Koraun, Once Called Mayweather a ‘Coward’ in a USA Today Interview
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In 2014, USA Today ran an interview with Josie Harris and son Koraun recalling the 2010 incident.
“[My dad] said to lock my door and stay in my room,” Koraun told Martin Rogers of USA Today. “I sat there and thought about what I was going to do next…and then ran back out my bathroom and then hopped over the gate and went to the main entrance gate. I just told [the guard] that my mom was getting hurt and to call the ambulance and the police.”
The interview ends with Koraun hugging his mother and saying about his father: “He is a coward.”
Presently, Floyd and Karaun remain close.