What can you say about Floyd Mayweather Jr. at this point in time? While always seeming to change personas every time a camera is in front of his face, there was never really any surprise upon hearing the undefeated fighter boast of his abilities, flaunt some money or talk a little bit of trash. But his recent derogatory comments towards Manny Pacquiao, and Filipinos in general, couldn?t help but leave those watching scratching their head.
Floyd?s remarks came during a personal Ustream broadcast and he was quick to apologize shortly thereafter, yet the damage was already done. It was a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight that has been capturing the public?s imagination for nearly a year now but Floyd seems to have soured the appetite of those waiting. For his part Pacquiao has said that he may be better off without a Mayweather bout and by this point in time the public?s interest is definitely waning.
Wanting to get a better feel for what some people in the sport are saying about the contest I reached out to some boxing minds to get their take on Mayweather?s latest tirade. In their personal assessments the panel is definitely brutal with their words and pulled no punches with their delivery.
This is what everyone had to say?
Scoop Malinowski, www.BoxingInsider.com contributor and owner of The Biofile (www.Biofile.com) ?Floyd’s angry that his fear and cowardice about facing Pacquiao has now been exposed. He was accustomed to having his way ducking and dodging and handpicking name fighters at the right time, but this time, the public now sees and realizes the ugly truth about Mayweather, despite all the shameful cover up attempts. ESPN called him a coward, as did many other mainstream media outlets.
My theory is Mayweather is jealous and envious of Pacquiao. He feels inferior to him in just about every way, in the ring as a fighter and outside the ring as a sportsman. I believe he wishes he could be everything Pacquiao is – a champion, a hero, an inspiration, beloved by millions all over the world – but he completely failed to come close to achieving that, despite being manufactured and protected by the powers that be.
This latest uneducated tirade against Pacquiao, the week of the Margarito contract signing and press conferences, reflects the resentment and frustration that has been building up in Mayweather, who has been forced to stay quiet and hide from answering questions about boxing Pacquiao. Pacquiao is his worst nightmare. All he can do now is talk his garbage talk, but talk is just talk. When it comes to taking actions about boxing Pacquiao, Floyd has shown he would rather talk. I am more than sure Pacquiao will abuse, beat up and knock out Mayweather – if HBO and Golden Boy take away all of Floyd’s other options and force him to fight Pacquiao in 2011. HBO must tell Floyd they will not invest any money in promoting Floyd until he signs to fight Pacquiao. I believe this is what is happening, though admission of this will not happen, for obvious reasons.
Pacquiao vs. Mayweather is going to be a one-sided beatdown, most similar to the recent good vs. evil battle – the 2002 clash between Lewis and Tyson.?
Matt Yano, 15 Rounds correspondent and co-owner of www.GardenStateFightScene.com
“Floyd’s rant was a disgusting personal attack on one of the sport’s classiest fighters and it came out of the blue. The racist comments were unnecessary and although he was trying to be funny, Mayweather actually made himself look like a fool.
He has been very successful in self promotion, but the racist rant damaged his image. I think Mayweather is somewhat jealous of all the attention and respect Pacquiao gets, thus he was trying to take some of it away; hence the reason he did it during the Pacquiao-Margarito press tour week.
The apology was weak and if I was Kelly Swanson (his publicist) I’d be fuming. Hopefully we can see him in the ring and off Ustream.?
