Louisville coach Rick Pitino watches Floyd Mayweather train
Since Louisville's season ended in the Elite Eight following an overtime loss to Michigan State, Rick Pitino has had some free time.
Wednesday, he kept himself busy with a visit to Floyd Mayweather during a training session before Mayweather's highly anticipated May 2 welterweight world unification bout against Manny Pacquiao.
• SI.com's Mayweather-Pacquiao fight hub
Mayweather even confirmed the visit with a tweet of his own — apparently there are some more photos if you follow him on the Shots app.
For those looking to find out more about the fighters' preparations, SI.com published a pair of features Wednesday on Mayweather and Pacquiao less than a month from their showdown at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
Though Mayweather has attempted to paint the bout as "just another matchup," SI's Greg Bishop writes it didn't feel that way inside the Mayweather Boxing Club this week.
It certainly didn’t feel that way this week. Security had more than doubled at the gym. Interviews had been cut back. The Mayweather that sparred on Tuesday wasn’t the same as the Mayweather who prepared for Shane Mosley and Robert Guerrero and Marcos Maidana (twice). He’s older, 38, but it’s more than that. That Mayweather always seemed so sure of himself, and in between sit-ups, he yelled and dispensed trash talk and carried on about his plans. He chanted “hard work” and “dedication” and everyone else chanted along with him.
This Mayweather was serious. No shame in that. No big surprise, either. At his session Tuesday, he sparred the rounds and worked the heavy bag and shot off on a run toward Treasure Island, his posse in tow, a half dozen luxury cars in pursuit, everyone on the trail to watch a man … run.
- Mike Fiammetta
