"I prayed for a champion" - When J. Prince shared how he discovered Floyd Mayweather while trying to sign Mike Tyson

J. Prince (left) and Floyd Mayweather (right) [Image Courtesy: @jprincerespect and @floydmayweather on Instagram]

J. Prince and Floyd Mayweather had an interesting manager-athlete story. Surprisingly, Prince did not have Mayweather on his radar when they met and wanted to sign Mike Tyson instead.

In 1999, J. Prince flew out to Las Vegas to both watch Mike Tyson spar and attempt to sign him. However, his deal with Tyson couldn't go through and he eventually ended up signing Floyd Mayweather instead. Prince went on to serve as Mayweather's manager for several years before the two cut ties in 2003.

The young Prince who waited his turn to become King #TBT http://t.co/tXN0t6ESAW

During an interview with James Lynch back in 2020, Prince revealed how he stumbled upon Mayweather:

"So I didn't know Floyd was a champion. Actually before I came to Las Vegas, I actually prayed to the creator, asking him to bless me with a champion. So after sparring I went to Mike Tyson's house we had a meeting and after the meeting I felt like I was on the Mike Tyson team you know moving forward, because that's what we agreed to. The next day I woke up I couldn't reach Tyson, his phone was off and I had a card in my hand that Floyd gave me and I asked my friend and I said, 'Who is this guy right here man?' He said 'It's Floyd Mayweather, the 130lb champion'. So immediately a red light went off in my head, I'm like man I prayed for a champion."

Watch J. Prince's full interview with James Lynch below:

Why did Floyd Mayweather and J. Prince cut ties?

Floyd Mayweather was signed to J. Prince up until 2003 before the two cut ties in rather aggressive fashion. Mayweather was set to face Phillip N'dou in 2003. However, with his contract with Prince near its expiry date, 'Money' wanted to postpone the fight so that his then-manager couldn't get a cut of the $3 million purse.

📅ON THIS DAY: Mayweather KOs Ndou💥

⏪Back in 2003 @FloydMayweather successfully defended his lightweight crown with a seventh round TKO of Phillip Ndou in front of his hometown fans🤜😫 https://t.co/8wzaymeoLk

Upon being made aware of Floyd's plan, J. Prince did not take to it too kindly. Bob Arum revealed that a bunch of guys that may have been associated with Prince went on to beat some people in Mayweather's camp with baseball bats. This eventually led to Floyd Mayweather paying his then-manager.

After the incident, J. Prince was paid $600,000 which would have been his share from Floyd's purse of $3 million and the two officially cut ties.