Floyd Mayweather Jr opened up his mouth and inserted his foot deep last week when he went on a racial slur attack that blasted Manny Pacquiao and Filipinos around the world. The days that followed were not so kind to Mayweather as he was the recipient of several counter attacks, and a first rate media beat-down.
Boxing scribes around the world wrote about it, and the boxing fans all chimed in with their disgust at what Floyd said. So a few days ago, Floyd goes back on YouTube and apologizes for what he said. So the question that needs to be answered is 1 – Why did he say what he said? and 2 – Was his apology sincere?
Firstly, I do not believe that Floyd Mayweather is a racist. I really don’t think that he is. Yes he said some really stupid things, and he did in fact say things that were racially flavored in bad taste, but is he a racist? I don’t think so. Is Floyd cocky? Yes. Is Floyd arrogant? Yes. Does Floyd let his mouth run wild? Yes. Does Floyd cringe at the sight of a Filipino because of the color of their skin? No way.
So, was his apology sincere? I’m not sold one way or the other on that one yet. Actions speak louder than words, so let us see how Floyd behaves from this point on. He certainly has not made any fans in the past few weeks, and he’s lucky that he hasn’t lost any sponsors. I GUARANTEE if Pacquiao would have attacked African American folks, Nike would have dropped him like a bad habit. That hypocrisy I’ll save for another article.
Mississippians that I spoke with over the past few days are both disgusted by what Floyd said, and have mixed feelings about his apology. I spoke with Nick Wooden at the Time Out Sports Lounge, in Jackson, Mississippi about Floyd’s apology to Pacquiao. Wooden is a Floyd Mayweather fan, and this is what he had to say, ” Floyd really messed up this time. Do I think his apology was sincere? Nope. I do not think it was sincere, and I can guarantee that if he didn’t take the backlash that he took for saying what he said, he would have never apologized. I love Floyd as a fighter, he’s like an artist with a brush in the ring, but he’s a clown outside of the ring.” Wooden informed this writer that he still pulls for Floyd, but it’s not like it used to be.
I for one hope that Floyd will continue to do the charity work that he does in fact do behind the scenes. Floyd has taken a rightful beating in the press, but the fact does remain that he does do some good things for the youth and the homeless folks in Vegas. Regardless of what you may feel about the guy, his charity work must be respected.
Pacquiao as usual keeps it on the high road. We haven’t heard much of anything out of him since the Mayweather rant. Manny will be training for the first half of his training in the Philippines, and the second half of training in Los Angeles.
Listen to Manny Pacquiao respond to Mayweather’s rant HERE
