We’ve all been witness to the weakest retirement ploy of all time in what Floyd Mayweather Jr. has done. It is the perfect example of why the public will never embrace the man and why they find his “game” beyond weak into the realm of nonexistent. When Bernard Hopkins “retired”, the public bought it and embraced him for his supposed final fight against Antonio Tarver. Even when the inconsistent Felix Trinidad retired twice, boxing fans across the world shed tears over the Puerto Rican warrior’s decision to leave the game.
All it took was for a blue-collar lad by the name of Ricky Hatton to make some smug remarks about the #2 pound-for-pound fighter to get a rise out of the supposedly retired Mayweather.
Oh yeah, I’m mistaken, he only would stay retired if Oscar De la Hoya, the man he succinctly beat, decided against granting him a rematch. What a crock of shit.
Part of having “game” is keeping people excited as to what might come next out of your mouth. When moves are predictable and rehearsed, it becomes a boring affair in which people quickly tune you out. It’s a funny game I and a group of boxing fanatics play when we try to predict what Floyd Mayweather says each and every time in any interview of camera appearance. Crem de la crem is a very common statement. Money is a common topic. “Hell of a fight” is a ridiculously redundant phrase when used to describe his bout with Oscar De la Hoya. What ever happened to wit? Mike Tyson never had a great formal education but even he could captivate the public with his crazy banter and humorous statements.
It was obvious to me from day one that the “Pretty Boy” never was serious about retirement in the first place. He was clearly a guy who was dying for the affection of the public and in his head it might create a sense of demand to give the false impression that he was leaving the game. I must say, you had to be blind, stupid, or both to believe that the egotistical Floyd wasn’t trying to play head games with the public. It was, is, and will always be to this day one of the weakest retirement ploys the boxing game has ever seen. In all honesty, it’s almost sad that the general public could probably care less whether he hanged them up or not.
Tito, stop being an attention whore.
The only two guys Felix Trinidad should attempt to come back against is the two guys that are lacing them up against one another this July 21. Most true champions salivate at the though of avenging their defeats especially if they were as embarrassing as the ones he received at the hands of Bernard Hopkins and Winky Wright.
From what I’ve heard you don’t need the money Tito. Maybe it’s the fact that you’re jealous of Miguel Cotto’s current shine and that the Puerto Rican people are now saying, “Ti-WHO?” You’re tarnishing your already one-dimensional legacy and your reputation by always following the same cycle of retire after taking an embarrassing ass beating, unretire and fight a tomato can only to retire once again after being humiliated. It’s not only unhealthy for your face, it’s unhealthy for the sport of boxing. Some how some way the boxing public has let go of Mike Tyson and they’ve done the same with you. Nobody is calling for you to come out of retirement other than yourself so don’t expect the public to care like they did in the past. There’s a new Puerto Rican superstar on the block and his name is Miguel “Beat Down Guys to a Pulp” Cotto.
I’m almost certain that never in Manny Pacquiao’s wildest dreams did he ever think that he’d be having two of the most powerful boxing promotional corporations tearing each other’s limbs off for a chance to promote him. For a guy that seems like a rather humble and soft-spoken individual, I sure hope that it doesn’t affect the way he feels about the sweet science. He sits high and mighty atop everybody’s pound-for-pound list due to his destructive and relentless nature within the ropes. The only question at this point in Manny’s career is… Who is he fighting next?
Due to the ongoing battle between Oscar De la Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions and Bob Arum’s Top Rank Promotions, it’s almost impossible to prognosticate the Pacman’s career. The most financially lucrative fight out there for Manny is still the rematch with Marco Antonio Barrera. While this fight isn’t necessarily what most fight fans would consider the toughest battle out there for the Filipino slugger, it’s a fight that could and should happen for boxing. If the “Baby Faced Assassin” wants to end his career fighting the man who completely destroyed him several years back, I don’t see a better way to go out.
With fighters like Manny Pacquiao, Miguel Cotto, Ricky Hatton, Kelly Pavlik, as well as a slew of other young, hungry offensive-minded opponents, boxing is in about as great shape as it’s been for the past couple years. At this point in time, boxing fans are all about watching great fights rather than great fighters preserve their pristine records. I’d suggest finding some local shows in your near area to appreciate what these unknown and multiple-times defeated warriors provide for their fans. True blood, guts, sweat, tears, and a whole lot of pain.
Fight of the Year Candidate in the Making… Zahir Raheem vs. Derrik Gainer.
The only other fights out there that I can think of as being as horrible as Raheem-Gainer is maybe Ruiz-Rahman II or Ruiz-Oquendo II. I happen to think that the Jones-Hanshaw pay-per-view sales would increase by at least 50 percent if they announced that the “Z-man” vs. “Smoke” has been cancelled. Maybe the promoter’s thoughts are that if people’s expectations are at an all-time low, if by some miracle something exciting happens like… a punch is thrown, it’ll give the fans something to smile about. It’s still a miserable thought to even think about watching that bout. They couldn’t pay me to watch that thing take place.
Can Vassily Jirov make it back to the top of the cruiserweight division?
I sure hope so, although I sincerely doubt it due to his recent performances. If by some miracle he is able to regain his former glory in the highly overlooked and underrated division, I would love to see a clash between “The Tiger” and “The Marksman”, Jean Marc Mormeck. Those two men don’t clinch and don’t take a step backwards. I don’t care if either of them are past their prime, entertainment is what I strive for and a match between those two rugged individuals would provide some serious spark in the cruiserweight division.
Antwun Echols, I’m a big fan of yours but I think it’s time to hang them up, way up. Unless you’re able to get a couple of leg transplants there’s no way you can regain your once vaunted punching power that carried you through fights. I have an idea, how about a Willie Gibbs vs. Antwun Echols fight in which the loser must retire for eternity and the winner retires for only the next hundred years. It makes sense in my mind.
That’s it for “The Boxing Bookie’s” random thoughts of the day.
Questions, comments, or if you just want to tell me what an imbecile I am, e-mail me at [email protected]
