Subdued Mayweather focuses on Cotto

Mayweather, who faces WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden, was content to sit in an oversized throne in the resort’s Hollywood Theater and keep his comments short and mellow.

“You just want to get up to the podium and talk,” Mayweather said of his less-than-bombastic performance at the microphone. “I wasn’t angry (Tuesday). I wasn’t mad. I was just speaking my mind.

“I’ve said it before. When you get two fighters to this level, there is no loser. The goal is for the two top fighters to meet each other.”

After spending 45 minutes regaling a handful of reporters in the MGM’s VIP lounge Tuesday afternoon with tales of growing up poor, evolving into one of the greatest fighters of his generation and once in a while mentioning Cotto, Mayweather was asked about Pacquiao.

It was as if a time bomb went off.

Suddenly, Mayweather launched into a 15-minute diatribe, pacing the small room, confronting the reporter who asked the original question and proceeding to denounce Pacquiao and his promoter, Top Rank chairman Bob Arum, while at the same time lauding his own patriotism and philanthropy and explaining how much he values his health.

“I’m not saying nobody is or nobody is not doing it. But my health is more important than anything,” Mayweather said. “Guess what? When my career is over, if I’m hurt, or something is going on because something has happened in a fight, I can’t come to you and say, ‘Yo, I need you to pay my rent for this month; I need you to pay my bills for this month; I need you to pay my car note; I need you to put my kids through school.’ So my health is more important.

“I’m an American. I was in the Olympics. I represented the red, white and blue. You know what American writers should say? ‘Why is this guy from another country (Pacquiao) coming over here and making money and taking it back to his country?’ Once again, I’m feeding American citizens every day. All I ask is give a little blood, give a little urine.”

Pacquiao and Arum have agreed to Olympic-style random drug testing, something Mayweather has demanded of his opponents since he fought Shane Mosley in 2010. When Mayweather was informed of that, he went ballistic.

“Now you’re listening to a professional liar,” he said. “Come on! Come on, man! Arum? Arum keeps people on his payroll. If I’ve got to put you on my payroll, let me know. Arum is already known for doing … he’s a lawyer, so we already know he’s a professional liar.”

When asked if Pacquiao was using performance-enhancing drugs in making his meteoric rise while winning titles in eight weight classes, Mayweather said: “It’s basic common sense. Pacquiao’s probably grown from a 7¼ to an 8 in a fitted hat.”

But there was none of that dialogue Wednesday.

Pacquiao went to Mayweather’s back burner, and the talk was about Saturday’s fight with Cotto and how Mayweather doesn’t need to reinvent himself to extend his record to 43-0.

“Why change and do something else if the first thing is working?” he said. “If I’m doing one thing well and I’m beating you, why do I need to change?”

Mayweather, 35, said that those who think he’s not going to go after Cotto don’t know him.

“I’ve been an offensive fighter; I can attack,” he said. “If I had been just a defensive fighter, I don’t think I would have lasted this long in this sport. I believe in fighting with skills and being smart.”

Mayweather said he’s no more relaxed for Saturday’s 12-round fight with Cotto than any of his previous bouts.

“I don’t feel any additional pressure,” he said. “I just look at it as just another day, as just another fight. I don’t worry about nothing. I just go, train, push myself to the limit and whoever they put in front of me, I beat.”

Mayweather seemed bored at times during the news conference, fidgeting in his king-size chair, adjusting his watch, sipping water and then coffee. As bored as he appeared, his uncle and lead trainer, Roger Mayweather, may have been even more disinterested as he sat onstage, looking as though he was ready to fall asleep. Roger Mayweather didn’t bother speaking, turning it into a G-rated event from the usual X-rated news conferences of the past that were filled with profanity-laced proclamations and barbs.

As for his nephew, Mayweather said he will attack from the opening bell.

“I plan on setting the pace and not waste any time,” he said. “They say (Cotto) is a slow starter. Well, I’m ready now.”

■ NOTES – A few hundred tickets are still available for the fight. … Mayweather remains a minus-750 favorite, with Cotto at plus-525. WBC junior middleweight champ Saul “Canelo” Alvarez is a minus-850 favorite against Shane Mosley, who is plus-500 in their co-feature. … Friday’s weigh-in at the Grand Garden begins at 2:30 p.m., with doors opening at 1. Admission is free.

Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.