Mayweather shoos Don King out of the party
A month after Don King began courting Floyd Mayweather with lobster dinners and dreamy financial proposals, reality has hit. And hit hard. The sparkling light the duo was suppose to cast on the sport has all but disappeared, as Mayweather more or less said the other day he wouldn’t be signing with the King.
Even Manny Pacquiao weighed in on the news when it was hot, when it genuinely seemed that King had a chance snatching Mayweather. After all, it’s Don King, and who could seriously say no to him? This is the guy that’s put on some of the most celebrated, not to mention highest grossest fights in the history of the sport (Thrilla in Manila, the Tyson-Holyfield bouts). So when Mayweather was seen dining with King, and then showing up at his Alexander-Kotelnik St. Louis card, spirits were understandably high.
“If anybody can make this fight, it’s Don King,” Bob Arum said, referring to the holy dream of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather.
“When you get the man, then you've got everything,” King said weeks ago, his words now talking on new tones. “And I've got the man with the plan. Me and Bob Arum can pull this Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao s**t off in two seconds, you know what I'm saying. I'm talking in two shakes of a lamb's tail. It would be fitting and proper for Bob and I to work on this because we're used to what it means.”
So much for the pipe dream. The reality is that Mayweather doesn’t give a d**n about promotional deals at this point, because he hardly cares about boxing. He’s made that clear, that he’d rather enjoy the finer things in life for the time being.
Since King’s bold words, he’s been all but mum, and Mayweather has discovered the joys of UStream.tv. He’s had a ton of stuff to say about Manny Pacquiao, most of which has been found rightfully offensive, but absolutely nothing to say about developments with King. This can only be because there aren’t any.
In issuing his recent second UStream video, a public apology for a first, Mayweather gave us the all the signs that a potential deal with King has fallen by the wayside. “I want to say thank you to ESPN,” he said. “Of course HBO, there’s no network like HBO. And, I mean, what else can I say? Al Haymon, Leonard Ellerbe, ya’ll have done a h**l of a job.”
What else need be said? The equivalent of a party shout-out, Mayweather confirmed what some already knew: there were no insider politics threatening to dismantle his Mayweather Promotions. Everyone else, be it Bob Arum (who actually promoted Mayweather for the majority of his career), or Golden Boy Promotions or Don King, they are all on the outside looking in. It’s as if Mayweather handed out passes to the some swanky nightclub in the city (wouldn’t be my style, no doubt), but failed to offer them to most of the boxing world. And everyone knows it. Actually, this would hold as a metaphor for his fans, too. How many Mayweather-ites must ultimately feel like they’ve been held outside at this point, unable to get inside to see their prize winner?
One of the reasons a Pacquiao-Mayweather bout would be so great is because it forges their incredible differences and pits them against each other. If Mayweather is the guy that keeps you out of the party, Pacquiao is the guy that always lets you in. Heck, he’s the doorman. Hence all of Pacquiao’s talk about ‘fighting for the people.’ All Pacquiao does is fight for the people, who comprise his party. But Mayweather is the opposite. Not even a sophisto like Don King can gain entrance to that jam.
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