One of the things that made my childhood love of Boxing so much fun was reading World Boxing and KO Magazines.
I was that Jersey boy running to the corner bodega to pick up the latest copy with change I probably stole from my mom’s piggy bank she was never able to hide.
I was an 80’s kid who loved the 80’s fighters.
As I reflect back now as a fully grown man, the child in me wonders if Floyd Mayweather was just like me. Did he remove the small posters of his favorite fighters and tape them on his room wall as I did? I wonder if kids still do this today, and if Floyd is hanging on their walls…
Do they regard him for his skill and bravery? Or, do they seek to emulate his arrogance and greed?
I never thought of my heroes for what they bragged about having while mocking the have-nots that made them. Not only do people like that forget where they came from, they usually go back to it without welcome signs upon forced arrival.
I would got to school and brag about Sugar Ray Leonard’s mano y mano survival of Roberto Duran in a punishing loss, and his subsequent embarrassing of Duran in the sequel. His epic and historic triumph over Hearns, and the improbable victory over Hagler. I would brag about his feats of honor – even in defeat – and I would aspire to be legend.
It can be said that Floyd has a right to brag. Fine. But would it be wrong if he did not settle bragging rights with Manny Pacquiao?
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It was with the spirit of a child that accompanied my April 2010 visit to the Mayweather Boxing Gym in Las Vegas. Floyd was nearing final preparations for Shane Mosley. I had already watched Floyd declare to Mosley that he was unafraid of him in the middle of the ring following his virtual masterpiece over Juan Manual Marquez.
This was on my mind as I waited (along with HBO cameras and crew) for Floyd to come out. The entrance was guarded by goons with personality disorders and unbelievable amounts of cologne. But whatever.
Anyway when Floyd finally came out, I asked him if he was afraid of Manny Pacquiao. He shot me a look that prompted the goons to move. “I’m not afraid of Shane Mosley, but you should be afraid of them!” Floyd barked.
“Answer the question Floyd! Are you (insert scratching record sound)…”
All of a sudden there was a hand on my shoulder telling me that that’ll be enough. It was the hand of his manager Leonard Ellerbe.
“We’re not afraid of Pacquiao, but I’m afraid its time for you to go”, declared the ever loyal Ellerbe. I wonder in circa September 2014, if Ellerbe would be afraid to tell the truth about Floyd in the wake of their fallout.
Could he explain how Floyd Sr. declared that Marcos Maidana is “the dirtiest fighter that Floyd has ever faced”, yet he allowed him to fight him twice? Why was there no talk of Olympic drug testing for Maidana? Yet this is all Team Mayweather wanted to talk about around the time I visited his camp in 2010.
Roughly a year later, how did Ellerbe (and the now also dumped Rafeal Garcia) really feel when he sat in the room as Floyd expressed his apprehension of Manny Pacquiao in this video. Its important to note that as Floyd said what he said in that video, he was about 5 months away from fighting Victor Ortiz during a really long break between fights to observe Pacquiao.
Right before the Ortiz fight, in September 2011, he had this to say (click on it – you should) regarding a fight with Manny Pacquiao. Hmmm… Did his advisors – or namely Ellerbe – tell him that he should declare before the world that he would indeed face Pacquiao? Rumor has it that Ellerbe didn’t think it was smart to videotape himself suggesting Pacquiao was superhuman, despite common opponents and beating men he also never wanted to face (eh hmm, Antonio Margarito).
So what lead to his case of amnesia that followed? Something that was actually documented by his own seemingly in-house scribe Ben Thompson with FightHype. He actually told the world he never said what you just heard him say (click on it – you should).
But yet he tells Ben Thompson this week that Ellerbe, or his word, can’t be trusted (long ass sigh and a lot of head shaking here). All Ellerbe did was withstand a successful lawsuit Pacquiao levied against Mayweather. A lawsuit only settled after Pacquiao’s legal team threatened to expose Floyd’s own alleged use of PED’s. Don’t believe me? Ask Dan Rafael who covers Boxing for ESPN. He has been the constant PR go-to gopher for all of Floyd’s public nightmares. He held the company line in constantly declaring there would be no fight with Pacquiao. We all heard him demand that Maidana not use his gloves – even though no other elite welterweight, including Pacquiao, would’ve done this.
If I were Ellerbe, I would’ve been gone the 50 Cent route, and changed the love to hate for this adolescent adult. Why would a man with a history of violence against women defend Ray Rice? To help PPV sales perhaps Floyd? If he’s not pissing rappers at Fatburger, he’s apparently trying to be a mob boss and arrange hits.
If he’s not accusing Pacquiao’s team of unfair play, he’s inviting former Pac trainer Alex Ariza to his camp for God only knows what reason. Ariza (who was seen taking pictures with government rat and alleged Marquez steroid supplier Memo Heredia) turned his back on Freddie Roach, Robert Garcia and all of their fighters.
They say birds of the same feather flock together. Move on Ellerbe. Hell it might be cool to see him in authentic Manny Pacquiao gear escorting the Filipino icon to the ring soon along with 50 Cent.
There’s a thought.
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If you follow the rules of boxing and you’re scoring from home, I scored Mayweather’s rematch with Maidana 115-112 in favor of Floyd. But the gameplan his father devised never called for aggression. Consider Floyd’s pre-fight comments or actions and then the fight itself.
He fought like a loser.
He almost needed a condom in there.
I can’t imagine he could ever hold a woman as much as he held Marcos Maidana.
It was a regurgitation of the same insomniac destroying blueprint he used to defeat Carlos Baldomir. You remember, the one where he came in looking like a gladiator only to fight like an aviator. I thought Mayweather was an embarrassment last week. If you are the so-called best fighter in the world, you don’t fight not to lose.
When you’re asking a money pressed public to scrounge up $75 to see you fight – you FIGHT. You are supposed to show your skills, not have us zero in on your footwear. Maybe he was thinking about Nelly and the Air Force One’s he probably wears when he does everything imaginable to Mrs. Jackson.
Oh.
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His Uncle Roger never ran from the great Julio Cesar Chavez. Fought him twice and lost admirably. His father never ran from Sugar Ray Leonard. He didn’t do this, even after taking a bullet in his leg while trying to protect a son he still does to this very day.
They correctly chose history for a sport that is so very rich in it. Floyd can spend his millions (and he will, trust me) on whatever he likes, but good luck finding a way to purchase peace of mind. It cannot be bought or sold, and the public can no longer be conned.
Mayweather’s attempts to manipulate fate has almost sealed his own. Karma is – and always has been – a bitch. She has a personality which cannot change, no matter how many times someone attempts to alter it. If he decides to leave an asterisk next to an undefeated and somewhat contrived record without facing Pacquiao, he’ll live to regret it and probably end up broke in the process.
He’ll never be heralded like 80’s contemporaries Leonard, Hagler, Hearns, Duran or Benitez. He won’t walk with the respect that his uncle or his father can walk with – win or lose.
My late mom used to always remind me of Proverbs 27:17 which tells us that only iron can sharpen iron. With this in mind, only greatness can truly challenge greatness.
Up Next… PACQUIAO VS. MAYWEATHER: 2015 A.D. (along with a preview of King Sports and the IBF middleweight title eliminator)
