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Floyd Mayweather’s bodyguard describes escape from drive-by shooting

Floyd Mayweather’s bodyguard has been in the middle of gunfights, had guns and knives pulled on him, and, of course, muscled more than a few tough guys wanting to throw blows.

Getting ambushed in a van was something Greg La Rosa never saw coming. And yet, less than one month after an unknown assailant riddled the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter van he rode in with more than a half dozen bullets, hitting him once in the leg, he chalked up the whole experience to a lucky break.

“To be honest, I’m not really worried about who it was,” La Rosa told MMAjunkie Radio. “I just hope it’s done and people just find love in their hearts and don’t need to result to this kind of stuff. Punch me in my eye if there’s something; don’t shoot at me.”

La Rosa said he was part of a three-vehicle motorcade escorting Mayweather back to an Atlanta hotel after an appearance at Medusa nightclub. He remembers no confrontations or hostility from those in attendance and said the whole night went smoothly.

It was around 3 a.m. on April 9 when his van departed from the nightclub carrying eight “Money Team” employees. They had just turned left into a valet area for their hotel went everything went haywire.

“It felt like somebody hit the side of the truck with a sledgehammer,” La Rosa said.

The force of the first shot sent debris flying between La Rosa and Mayweather bodyguard Ray “Jizzymack” Vinci. For half a second, everyone froze. No one could see where the assault had come from. One of La Rosa’s first thoughts was that an irate fan had thrown a garbage can through the window.

Then a cascade of shots sent everyone scrambling for cover. As he ducked his head, La Rosa felt “a flick” above his ankle.

“I looked down, and I had a hole in my leg, and I’m starting to bleed out of it,” he said.

Police later recovered 12 shell casings from the scene. The target of the ambush was unclear, and no suspects were identified.

La Rosa said his van’s driver made a quick U-turn in the direction they’d just come from and sped toward a hospital. Mayweather was one of the first to call.

“He was extremely concerned,” La Rosa said.

A 911 operator advised them to pull over to the side of the road until police response. But with a bleeding leg, he ignored that command.

When the van finally arrived at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, they pulled up to the wrong entrance. Police tried to stop the group from walking the 20 yards to the right door before a phalanx of hospital employees scooped up La Rosa and carried him into the emergency room.

La Rosa felt like he was on an episode of “ER.”

“I remember being extremely calm for some reason,” he said.

After three hours in the hospital, doctors had repaired the damage to his leg. Mayweather called again to check on him. A nurse then told La Rosa he could go, without crutches. La Rosa insisted otherwise after taking a step on his own.

By 7:40 a.m., La Rosa was sitting in an airplane getting ready to take off for “The Money Team” homebase of Las Vegas. He just wanted to get out of there.

Today, La Rosa is walking without much pain. In the days after the shooting, his leg swelled at night, and he foolishly tried to work out the next day, drawing a dress-down from Team Mayweather’s medical director.

The days of long nights and jet-setting around the world have given way to the lifestyle of a homebody, with rest and rehabilitation La Rosa’s top priority.

But it could be worse.

“I’m appreciative of the break,” he said. “I get a little antsy sometimes, but I’m getting pampered at home. My girl’s taking care of me. I get to act like a big suck, so it works.”

There are no big life lessons La Rosa takes from his brush with death. He just thinks he was in the wrong place at the wrong time. For whatever reason, someone planned to ambush the motorcade that night. He thought stuff like that was reserved for war zones, but he now knows they’re not.

Police still haven’t identified any suspects. La Rosa doesn’t care. The experience was as impersonal as it was violent, so it’s hard to be angry at anyone. He never saw anything inside the van.

Mayweather’s security detail took on their own persona during the blockbuster promotional tour for “The Money Fight” with Conor McGregor, with La Rosa nearly coming to blows with the UFC star. But at the group’s heart, it’s a collection of guys who try to do a sometimes dangerous job to the best of their ability.

If there’s any takeaway from that night, it’s that the team around La Rosa was ready.

“Nobody panicked,” he said. “We got out of there very safely, and nobody was seriously injured. Luck was definitely on our side – that’s for damn sure.”

For more on upcoming MMA events, check out the MMA Rumors section of the site.

MMAjunkie Radio broadcasts Monday-Friday at 1 p.m. ET (10 a.m. PT) live from Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino’s Race & Sports Book. The show is hosted by “Gorgeous” George Garcia, Brian “Goze” Garcia and Dan Tom. For more information or to download past episodes, go to www.mmajunkie.com/radio.

The Blue Corner is MMAjunkie’s blog space. We don’t take it overly seriously, and neither should you. If you come complaining to us that something you read here is not hard-hitting news, expect to have the previous sentence repeated in ALL CAPS.

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