Floyd Mayweather to 50 Cent: Reading won’t define my place in history

Floyd Mayweather Jr. is supposed to be focusing on his fight on Sept. 13 against Marcos Maidana, but instead, he still has to talk about his reading ability.

Last week, rapper 50 Cent said he would donate $750,000 to charity if Mayweather was filmed reading one page of a Harry Potter book. Fans of the rapper and the boxer both then debated heartily whether Mayweather was illiterate.

At a news conference Thursday for his fight with Maidana, Mayweather was asked several questions about the challenge, before he finally tried to put the matter to rest.

“My thing is this, I try to focus on Maidana,” Mayweather said. “I don’t really focus on that. I know what I can and I can’t do. You guys don’t know when you’re dealing with pay-per-view you have to read at least 60 to 70 teleprompters, and I don’t think they could choose a better person for the job than myself. I go out there and I do it with no problem.

“I just feel like basically I’m not judged by a person, I’m judged by God. Reading does not define my place in boxing history. Will God not let me in heaven because I didn’t read like a news anchor? Me, myself, I would be perfect at reading if it was how I made my living and fed my family. Once again, intelligence and education are two different things.

“Making fun of a person because they can’t read is not funny. It’s tragic. Second, if I really couldn’t read it would make my accomplishments even that much more amazing. I don’t know if 50 Cent is a boxing promoter, I don’t know if he’s making music; I really don’t know. My focus is on Floyd Mayweather, and I wish 50 Cent nothing but the best.”

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