He's best reason to check out Mayweather's corner

Leonard Ellerbe says the best thing that ever happened to him was meeting Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Perhaps it is the other way around.

Mayweather will fight Oscar De La Hoya at 154 pounds Saturday night at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. It is the first boxing match in several years that is actually worth the hype. De La Hoya, 34, is the superstar with the matinee-idol image. Mayweather, 30, may have fewer groupies, but he is unbeaten in 37 pro fights and is, as they say in boxing, the best pound-for-pound fighter in the game today.

Of course, they say a lot of things in boxing, and most of it is baloney. Webster didn't actually put the word "hype" into his dictionary until after he had attended two or three fights at Madison Square Garden. Then he defined the word as "a gathering of fast talkers, hustlers and former felons who persuade the public to pay $49.95 for a pay-per-view show worth 11 cents." You can look it up.

So, when you run into somebody in boxing like Ellerbe, you do a double take. He has the market on nice guys in the sport practically to himself. After Ellerbe, you need only the fingers on one hand to count the others.

Ellerbe, 41, is Mayweather's manager, No. 2 corner man, financial advisor, booking agent, chauffeur, workout buddy, children's godfather, and confidant. Because Mayweather trusts him, Ellerbe is the rock that anchors the team that gets Mayweather to the ring. He handles all this with a smile, with efficiency and with the patience of a fence painter. He does it 16 to 18 hours a day, seven days a week. Call him at 5 a.m., call him at noon. He answers just the same and is ready to help.

Ellerbe is Mayweather's best friend, and vice versa. Mayweather once responded to a question about the greatest moment in his life by saying, "The day I met Leonard Ellerbe." Reminded of that, Ellerbe says, "Tears came to my eyes."

Ellerbe is especially important for this fight because, even more than usual, storm clouds and lightning surround Mayweather.

Uncle Roger Mayweather will be back as the main trainer in his nephew's corner Saturday night, after serving a suspension by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for running into the ring and swinging at Zeb Judah in the 10th round of a fight in April 2006.

A beaten Judah had connected with a punch below Mayweather's belt and Uncle Roger took exception. A melee followed and the man pulling Roger out of the battle was Ellerbe, who was fined $50,000 for that entrance into the ring, $150,000 less than Roger.