Mayweather punches in as Team China's 'special adviser'

The Chinese Boxing Federation is turning to Floyd to fill a void in preparing for next year's Tokyo Olympics.

Retired five division world champion Floyd Mayweather Jr has been recruited by the CBF to serve as a "special adviser" to the national team as it looks to at least double the three medals it won at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.

In a statement posted on its official WeChat account this week, the federation said American legend Mayweather, the featherweight bronze medalist at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and one of the greatest defensive fighters in history, has pledged to "go all-out to use his influence and resources to support the Chinese boxing project in achieving excellent results at the Tokyo Olympics."

China first competed in Olympic boxing at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles, but it wasn't until Athens 2004 that Zou Shiming won the nation's first medal in the ring, a bronze in the light flyweight division.

Zou and light heavyweight Zhang Xiaoping became national heroes by winning gold at the 2008 Beijing Games and Zou was champion again at London 2012, but there's since been little for Chinese fight fans to get excited about.

A total of 43 boxers (38 men, 5 women) have represented the nation in nine Olympics, bringing home 12 medals (3 gold, 3 silver and 6 bronze). In Rio, Yin Junhua captured silver in the women's lightweight division, Li Qian won bronze in women's middleweight and Hu Jianguan took bronze in men's flyweight.

While no job description or financial details of Mayweather's arrangement with the CBF are available, it's safe to say the 42-year-old isn't doing it for the money. After retiring in late 2016 with a perfect 50-0 record, one of his first moves was a "luxury tour "of China.

During a 2017 visit to Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and Chengdu (where he purchased naming rights to a baby panda), Mayweather posted online photos of himself and members of his entourage on the Great Wall.

"I'm here on 'The Great Wall of China', considered to be one of the greatest wonders of the world!" the champ wrote to his 22 million followers on Instagram.

"China has always been on my list of places to see throughout my travels in life. Coming here with 23 people has been a great experience and it doesn't hurt to get paid $3,000,000 to simply vacation in luxury for a few days. With money this long, everything is different. I move different, I dress different and I live different because my money is extremely different!"

After pocketing an estimated $350 million for defeating Manny Pacquiao in 2015's "Fight of the Century", Mayweather came out of retirement two years later to TKO Irish mixed martial arts champion Connor McGregor in a crossover match that ended in the 10th round and paid the American an astounding $178,041 per second after his share of worldwide pay-per-view revenue was included.

In a final "farewell" exhibition match last Dec 31 in Tokyo, Mayweather knocked out Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa in one round.

The man who nicknamed himself "Money" was back in the news last Saturday when he was ringside in Las Vegas to watch the 40-year-old Pacquiao dethrone Keith Thurman as WBA world welterweight champion-sparking talk of a possible rematch with the Filipino icon.

"We would love to fight Mayweather again... It would be bigger than the first fight," said Freddie Roach, Pacquiao's trainer.

But a Mayweather spokesman quickly dismissed the idea, saying, "Floyd is happily retired and looking forward to pursuing some interesting new projects.

"He has zero interest in a rematch."