ONLY IN AMERICA

Boxing champ Floyd Mayweather has turned his hardknock career into a life of luxury.

The yellow Ferrari 360 Modena slashes through the streets of Vegas as the driver, all of 24 years old, bobs his head to the hard-hitting sounds of Dirt Bomb. He taps his passenger on the shoulder to make sure that he is listening. The driver wants that passenger to know the deeper meaning of Lookin'.

$20,000 on the face, 80 carats on the wrist...Lookin'! –Dirt Bomb ©2001

He wants the passenger to understand that everywhere he goes, people are lookin'. Black, white, Mexican, Latin, Asian, all people. Lookin'. But the thing is, some understand, and some don't. People at the gas stations and the restaurants and most every place he goes assume he's a rapper or something because he's so flamboyant. His cars make 'em look. His house makes 'em look. His jewelry makes 'em look. His entourage makes 'em look. His girl makes 'em look. And his style and presence make them look...even harder.

I am that passenger, and I am listening. I am internalizing, and I do see everyone lookin'. Shit, I'm lookin' too. But I know why I'm lookin'. I'm lookin' because I know the driver can afford even more. More cars, more jewelry, more flamboyance. The driver is not hip-hop, the driver is much larger than that.