'Money' Mayweather Doesn't Deserve It
When the Dana White, the president of the UFC mixed martial arts promotion recently ran into Floyd Mayweather Jr. at the Hard Rock Cafe in Las Vegas, he talked to Mayweather about the issue on virtually everybody's mind: a potential superfight between Mayweather and pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao. In response, Mayweather shrugged, “what do you care? You've got the UFC.”
“I'm a boxing fan,” White replied, stating the truth.
“Well, I'm not desperate.”
Was it ever a question of desperation? Mayweather stood to gain anywhere between $45 and $60 million for a bout with Pacquiao. But instead the man who calls himself 'Money' has been content to consistently brag about being the greatest fighter who ever lived, quick to steal the crown from such notables as Sugar Ray Robinson (200 fights) and Joe Louis. And by excommunicating himself from the sport that made him, he leaves the boxing world with the prospect of a Pacquiao vs. Margarito fight.
There's nothing fruitful about this fight. Yet again we have Pacquiao, obviously a great fighter, taking on someone out of his league. Margarito, you may remember, had his boxing license revoked earlier this year when illegal plaster was found in his wraps just prior to a fight against Shane Mosley. Before that fight, he took on Miguel Cotto, and handed that fighter his first defeat- arguably using illegal plaster there as well.
But against Mosley--without the aid of plastered wraps-- Margarito looked horrendous, and suffered a one-sided defeat. Since then, he's taken on one other guy, Roberto Garcia, but nobody noticed because it wasn't a top notch bout.
How then does it happen that a guy who probably cheated to win his best fights, and who possibly put fighters in danger of their lives (cheating in boxing, unlike other sports, is no joke since the objective is to hurt your opponent) gets to take on the pound for pound best in the world? And yet, other guys who are probably better fighters, such as Paul Williams, remain blacklisted and out of the loop?
For one, it helps that both Pacquiao and Margarito are Top Rank fighters, promoted by the ever-ready Bob Arum. For two, the last few years have seen massive changes in the infrastructure of boxing and an unprecedented loss of popularity in the sport (most of it going to mixed martial arts). The sad truth is that boxing, as an enterprise, requires sales and revenue; and the way to get that isn't to match Pacquiao with worhty contender Paul Williams, whom nobody outside the sport would recognize on the street. It's to put Pacquiao against the archetypal villain Margarito.
Still, if there's anyone to blame in the whole Pacquiao – Mayweather fiasco, it's Mayweather. Here's a fighter who claims he's the best, but when it comes to fighting the best, he's calm as a night on the beach. It's true that Mayweather has taken out a slew out 'greats,' but it's amazing to note how many of them were quite clearly over the hill at the time of defeat. Wins over Ricky Hatton, de la Hoya and Shane Mosley are all suspect in this regard.
White makes the point that, in any professional sport, your job is to be the athlete you purport to be. If you're the greatest, you have to show it. If you're a fighter, you fight. But Mayweather has opted for something different, saying after the latest talks with Pacquiao fell through that he's set on taking at least a year off from the sport.
“For denying them this fight, boxing fans should never buy another Floyd Mayweather fight as long as they live,” White said.
And sure enough, if fans could do that, you can beat he'd step into the ring with Pacquiao.
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