Remember that glorified trophy that Coach Freddie Roach captured when Manny Pacquiao triple dribbled Ricky Hatton?
Sure you do, that prize specimen, that wonderful gonfalon, that I reported exclusively came from the dump behind a bowling alley on Hollister Avenue in Goleta, Ca? Its retail value is said to be $29.95 yet to losing trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr. it was better than the Maltese Falcon.
It was the stuff that a trainer’s dreams are made of and I hear unconfirmed reports that Roach shares his bed with the trophy so precious is it to him.
It looked like the kind of enticing award that The Dude and his pals might?ve been competing for in their league competition on ?The Big Lebowski.?
If you saw that movie, and shame on you if you have not, you do know then that, always and everywhere, The Dude abides. He might need to toss down a few White Russians when someone urinates on his best rug but he always abides.
I say that to say this, I wonder now if the Golden Boys are having a special statue made in honor of Floyd Mayweather to wrap his arms around when he beats little guy Juan Manuel Marquez on July 18?
They could call it the CON Trophy, CON being the acronym standing for Championship Of Nothing.
The name fits because this is just a prelim bout, a warmup session, for Mayweather against Ring Emperor Supremo Pacman.
Fitting, isn?t it because a CON Trophy will go along with the con job that is the salesmanship of this fight. I mean all that battle for Number One crapola.
Let?s review, then, who actually is Numero Uno en el mundo de boxeo ahora.
LIGHTWEIGHT: Juan Ma has this supreme status at 135 pounds and even a one-sided loss to PBF at 143, 144 or whatever the contracted weight is will not affect that.
JUNIOR WELTERWEIGHT: Check with bigmouth Hatton if you wish?Pacman stands above all others at 140 pounds.
WELTERWEIGHT: Boxrec has it right, it?s Shane Donte Mosley, turning age 38 come Sept. 7
POUND FOR POUND: Pacquiao and not Mayweather.
Oh sure, I will give Mayweather his props here.
If they had titles for such attributes, these would be properly his?
Fastest feet.
Fastest hands.
Fastest mouth.
Handpicking opponents cleverly.
Even Golden Boy house organ Wrong magazine does not recognize those as titles so what exactly is Mayweather as you read this today champion of?
And we come back to, again, his being the Champion Of Nothing.
This makes Mayweather a CONman and this is why he nibbles about bringing up how Megamanny lost on March 19, 2005, a decision to Erik Morales.
Whoopdefreakingdoo, Pacman who was not the finished pugilistic product then that he is four years later dropped a decision that all three judges had at 115-113. Floyd always forgets to mention how slim the verdict was.
It must really burn Mayweather?s craw that Mosley, who went boldly into fights knowing he could lose but took them anyway because they made his competitive juices flow and the money was proper, stands so far above at him at welterweight.
Mosley has fought as a welterweight 20 times in the last decade, going 14-5-1 yet it is this portion of his record which underlines his sure fire Hall Of Fame status because it includes losing two decisions to Vernon Forrest, a points loss to Miguel Cotto in a well fought match and a majority and unanimous decision defeat at the slick hands of Winky Wright.
It could be said that all those losses are on the plus side given the quality of opposition.
On the plus-plus side, this log includes a split and a unanimous decision over Boss Oscar.
More salt in the wounded psyche of Fragile Floyd as Mosley has twice whipped ODLH and done it more authoritatively than PBF did in the waltzing ?Businessman?s Special.?
Mayweather, by contrast, left the lightweight legion when he stopped Phillip N?dou. This was followed by junior welterweight victories over lesser lights DeMarcus Corley, Henrry Bruseles and Arturo Gatti.
Then came welterweight victories over exhausted Sharmba Mitchell, a solid decision over formidable Zab Judah and a romp over Carlos Baldomir. Throw in a junior middleweight victory over Oskie and then it?s back to 145 pounds in stopping Hatton in 10.
OK, in all fairness, I missed one particular title.
Mayweather carried Hatton for 10 rounds like Octomom carried eight children for nine months.
How many in her brood now? Talk about having the rabbit habit, Octomom should watch TV once in a while.
Let?s give Floyd his due there. It?s not easy to carry Flatback Hatton for 10 x 3 or 30 minutes.
Marquez, King of the Lightweights.
Mosley, Potentate of all Welterweights.
Pacquiao, Ruler of Junior Wedlterweights and Pound For Pound King.
Mayweather?
Until further notice, CONman of boxing.
His skills are specialized and marvelous.
But his kingdom, his royal territory, is a big zero, a vast wasteland.
Don?t get conned by the CONman.
The Dude abides.
The CONman rules over nothing.
The CONman only rules over a few fistic fools.
Michael is a former sports columnist at the New York Post. He was a criminal defense attorney and worked for sports legends Howard Cosell and Don King. Marley also operates BoxingConfidential.com. Email him your thoughts. He makes it a practice to always recommend Pacland and Philboxing
