THE British fans hated me. They always used to say to me, โGo back to Americaโ. But I lived in London, I only used to go to training camps in America. I think when Mick Hennessy promoted my fight with Lenny Daws in 2011, he made it seem like I lived in America. But even now, if Iโm not in camp, Iโm in London. But this is my job, I fight often, so Iโm in camp a lot. But yeah, even as British champion, the fans didnโt like me. Now all of a sudden, Iโm signed with Floyd Mayweather, and everyone is saying, โAshley! When are you going to fight here?โ But you had me here for all those years and you didnโt care about me.
I used to get the hateful Tweets, but it’s not so bad now. Boxing fans are weird. They like to criticise the fighters, they call them boring. But you get boxers like Gerald McClellan, who go all out, and they get injured. The fans are not there to look after them, the family have to. He hasnโt got any money, the fans are not going to give him any money. The family have to find money. So Floyd Mayweather gets a lot of criticism, but he always says, as long as he has his family heโs happy, because thatโs why he started to box. All the money that he makes goes to his kids, the family. You want to be able retire with money. There are too many examples of fighters who are broke. Like Iran Barkley, you see him in the gym, and heโs homeless. Itโs sad, because he was a great fighter.
Fans are very critical of us. They call us bums. But they have never had one professional fight in their life. You know, as [Gabriel] Rosado said, โWe give our allโ. Itโs true. And at the end of the day the way I see it is this: I never let my losses hold me back. Itโs sport. The top teams lose but itโs about how they come back. Whenever I lose, I always come back strong.
There is a lot of love now, fans want me to fight in Britain again. Theyโre very nice now. And if theyโre a Floyd fan, theyโre a fan of mine, because they support his whole team. Thatโs cool because he has loads of fans, but there are also a lot who donโt like him as a fighter, so you get that as well. At the end of day, if youโre going to do something that is worth doing, youโre not going to make everyone happy so thatโs why I donโt worry too much about what fans think. They donโt pay my bills. Right now, Floyd Mayweather pays my bills and writes my cheques. As long as that man likes me, Iโm good.
I like fighting in Las Vegas. There was only one fight I really liked here. Well, there was two. I loved my debut and when I won the British title. They were the only two I actually enjoyed. I never got love here, and I feel more loved in America than I do here.
For my career itโs a great place to be. For boxing, itโs great. You see so many great boxers around, great influences that you respect Mike Tyson, Zab Judah, Floyd Mayweather, youโve got [Cornelius] Boza [Edwards] in the camp. Jeff [Mayweather], Roger [Mayweather], Eddie Mustafa [Muhammad]. Youโre surrounded by them. Itโs nice, itโs cool. But would I live there? I donโt know. But for the past 10 years, the majority of my life has been over there. It will be strange not to be there. When I finish boxing, I need to find a job where I can keep moving back and forth. But I do enjoy coming back to London after my fight. Iโll be in Vegas for a week after my fight and then I come back here. Thatโs why I havenโt got a place there, because in my mind, Iโm going out to training camp.