Don King defends Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Fresh off the Mayweather train, where he sought the fighter’s contractual rights and feasted with the many, legendary boxing promoter Don King has spoken about Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s recent arrest for
larceny and domestic battery.
King made headlines last month when he treated “Money” Mayweather to some fights in St. Louis and told reporters he was bidding for the fighter. The boxing world fell like Mickey Mouse in love for the
possibility that King would be able to arrange a mega-fight between Mayweather and seven-division titlist Manny Pacquiao. Even Bob Arum, who heads Top Rank, said that if anyone would be able to make the fight happen, it would be the guy with the craziest
hair in boxing.
The boxing world has been anticipating a bout between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather for a long, long, long time. But things have got in the way.
Most recently Mayweather was arrested for larceny after a domestic dispute with his long time on and off girlfriend, Josie Harris. Harris called the police after the fighter allegedly stole her iPhone
in a bid to check her text messages and then returned and battered her while she was sleeping on a couch. Allegedly Mayweather snapped when he learned Harris had a new lover, Chicago Bulls’ guard CJ Watson.
The police have verbal testimony from Mayweather and Harris’s son, Koraun, 10, that the undefeated boxer attacked Harris.
That’s disaster number one for Mayweather. Hardly a week before that, he uploaded a video online criticizing Manny Pacquiao and berating him with racist slurs.
Most weren’t pleased.
Don King offered his singular opinion.
He called the video rant and Mayweather’s recent arrest “frustrations of the ghetto expressing themselves,” and suggested that oppose to being jailed Mayweather needs to be educated.
“He grabbed onto sport to be able to escape,” King began. “He’s a master in his sport, but that don’t make him a Rhodes scholar. He’s not erudite in other things. No one can explain him unless they can
understand him. When you’re in the street, the jargon, the vernacular, is altogether different. You have to understand that. In order to bring change about, you need respectability and responsibility. You have to be able to be taught.”
Halting the preaching for a moment, Don King was sure to self-promote while the cameras were rolling. He never misses a chance.
“This is what Don King would be able to do with him because I understand where he’s coming from. If you don’t know where you’re coming from, you don’t know where you are going.”
In King’s opinion, most of Mayweather’s problems stem from being an incredibly rich black man in a white man’s world. He feels that the fighter hasn’t learned how to properly manage that reality, despite
having millions upon millions of dollars in the bank.
King was adamant about distinguishing between skills in the ring and skills in the real world. While Mayweather has undoubtedly sharpened his skills in the ring to incredible heights, he hasn’t been taught
about morality, or how to deal with people.
Whether or not you agree with King, he has the promotional experience to back up his opinion. It pays not to forget that King promoted Mike Tyson after he was released from prison for a rape charge.
Tyson spent three years in the hole; afterward, under King’s direction, he was able to reclaim the heavyweight crown.
King sighed. “You’re right to condemn his [Mayweather’s] actions, based on your perspective and your education and the life you’ve lived. … Having fame, acclaim and affluence doesn’t mean he’s gained the
knowledge and understanding of peoplehood. People need each other.”
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