Not too long ago I stood next to Floyd Mayweather Sr. as he took in some of the sparring at the Mayweather Boxing Club. I asked him what he thought about Andrew Tabiti, the young cruiserweight he had recently begun training.
His response was quite surprising. Not that Tabiti isn’t an incredibly talented fighter, but to hear what Mayweather said about him speaks volumes about the promise he believes he possesses as a professional.
“I had planned to retire when my son retired. But now that I started working with this kid, I think I am going to hang around for awhile.”
I pressed him on the point, asking why that was.
“He is my next world champion,” Floyd responded.
Considering he is the father of one of the best boxers in the history of the sport, words like those don’t ring hollow. Floyd Jr. was groomed from childhood to be exactly what he has become, so praise like that coming from Floyd Mayweather Sr. cannot be ignored.
At just 2-0 so far in his young professional career, Andrew Tabiti is certainly a long way off from competing for any title. He must continue to learn, improve, and put in the hard work necessary to fulfill Mayweather’s prophecy. Fortunately for Tabiti, so far he has done exactly that.
Though his talent is clear to anyone that watches him train for more than a minute or two, Tabiti hasn’t let any of the building hype surrounding him to get to his head. He continues to be a polite young man, eager to learn from whomever has knowledge to share.
Andrew Tabiti is next scheduled to fight on December 6 in Washington state as part of a card that features many of his fellow TMT fighters. Few expect his opponent to fare much better than his first two KO victims did. It shouldn’t be long before he gets past the “building his resume” portion of his career and we start to see him take on tougher competition. Once he does, we will have a better indication if Floyd Mayweather was correct, and he does indeed have another world champion on his hands.
