Real Women. Real Stories. Real Boss Strategies
THE MODERN MOGUL: Floyd "Money" Mayweather
Volume 2
American Boxer Floyd Mayweather is THE BEST pound-for-pound fighter of his generation.
American professional boxer Floyd Mayweather was born on February 24, 1977 (Happy Belated Birthday Floyd), in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He won three national Golden Gloves and an Olympic bronze medal in 1996, and became a professional boxer that same year. By 2007, he was considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world and had 38 undefeated bouts. He retired in 2008, but returned to the ring in September 2009.
His father, Floyd Sr., was a welterweight contender, and his uncle Jeff Mayweather is a former IBO super featherweight champion. Another uncle, Roger Mayweather, is a former World Boxing Council super-lightweight champion.
His father introduced Mayweather to the gym not long after he started walking, holding his young boy in front of speed bags whenever they visited. Soon, Mayweather was throwing punches at anything that came in his view. At the age of seven he was fitted for his first pair of boxing gloves.
His family life was complicated. His father had a violent temper, and drifted in and out of danger. In 1978, while holding his son, he was shot in the leg during a dispute with the brother of a girlfriend. In 1993, the elder Mayweather was sentenced to prison on cocaine trafficking charges. Mayweather's mother has also dealt with substance abuse issues.
The victories and paychecks only fueled Mayweather’s already sturdy ego. In a sport built on bravado, he has proven to be one of boxing's most polarizing figures.
"My goal has always been to be one of the best fighters who ever lived," Mayweather has said. "My career and legacy are very important to me."
Mayweather is still an force to be reckoned with. Standing strong as America's #1 boxing champion...this man cannot be stopped.
THE MODERN MOGUL: David Banner
Volume 1
Termed "a thug intellectual in a world of crunk" by the Miami New Times, Mississippi rapper David Banner is an artist whose work is rife with contrasts and contradictions. He has been second to none when it comes to exploiting the raunchy and violent themes characteristic of hip-hop music's Southern branch, delivering tales of sensuality and mayhem in a quiet,
rough voice that makes them all the more intense.
Yet he has also written raps that describe the environment in which poor African Americans live in Southern cities, and in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 he became, along with Kanye West, a strong voice raised in protest against the U.S. government's response to the tragedy. He described his music to Billy Watkins of the Jackson, Mississippi, Clarion-Ledger as "a Bible with a Playboy cover," and that schizophrenic quality, combined with Banner's mastery of the art of self-promotion, made him one of the most exciting emerging hip-hop stars of the mid-2000s.
Jackson, Mississippi-born Lavell Crump took the name David Banner from the mild-mannered alter ego of the title character on the television show "The Incredible Hulk." He also went by his family nickname of Billy when he was young. "He's a lot of people,"
Banner's mother Carolyn Crump told Watkins. "But he's true to each of them." Banner grew up in a supportive, religious, two-parent household and learned music on a ten-dollar electronic keyboard, then a drum machine, then a Casio keyboard sampler that he had at home.