Floyd Joy Mayweather Jr. sorely needs a “Dutch uncle” to pull his coat.
From Answers.com: A stern, candid critic or adviser, as in When I got in trouble with the teacher again, the principal talked to me like a Dutch uncle. This expression, often put as talk to one like a Dutch uncle, presumably alludes to the sternness and sobriety attributed to the Dutch. [Early 1800s]
The other day, before Clark County DA David Roger put his rather large boot up the backside of “Money May” with three additional felony charges related to the Josie Harris Baby Mama Drama, I I went over the usual suspects, all of whom I don’t believe can help change L’il Floyd into a solid citizen and rescue him from abhorrent personal behavior.
I left Donald King, would be avuncular presence who is itching to work with Mayweather in what may be the twilight of both their meteoric careers, off the list.
But I don’t think King has the time nor the energy to get Mayweather’s real attention.
I think Mayweather, 33, looks at DK as kind of a blinged out grandfather figure, no more and no less.
They’ve had two or three promotional flirtations but, at this point King has been reduced to publicly proclaiming how well he could work alongside Mayweather advisor Al Haymon and the boxer’s sidekick Leonard Ellerbe.
Trust me, Haymon won’t be working with King in this lifetime, either his or Donald’s.
There’s only man who could, if he so desires, verbally jolt Mayweather back to reality.
His name is Michael Gerard Tyson and he comes from Amboy Street, Brownsville section of Brooklyn and now residing in the same burg as Mayweather, Las Vegas.
You’ve likely seen ace shutterbug Michael “Mickey” Brennan’s exclusive 1999 photo of Baby Mama Josie Harris and Mayweather in the first blush of their youthful romance. Brennan snapped the photo of the lissome Harris bussing Floyd outside a gym where they had come to watch a Tyson workout.
On the same day, Brennan also snapped candids of “Pretty Daddy” Floyd Sr. and Floyd hanging out with Tyson.
Now the reasons why Tyson could hammer some sense and sensibility into Mayweather:
1. Woman Problems? Tyson is an expert out of the School of Hard Knocks, formerly a wild child but now settled into a mellow marriage in his mid-40s. From Robin Givens and their miscast marriage, to going to prison for an (alleged) rape of a beauty pageant contest named Desiree Washington, Tyson has been there and back, so to speak.
2. Financial Problems? Tyson has gone from rags to riches and is now living quite modestly, by necessity. All that bling, all that real estate, all those flashy cars…well, Tyson knows now how meaningless and how mentally and financially draining such a lifestyle can be.
3. Boxing Problems? Nobody ever had as many irritating “fleas” in an entourage than did Tyson. Where are they now? I’m sure Tyson asks himself that every day. When the money was gone, so were they. Tyson can approach Mayweather as someone who is NOT looking to put a hand in his bulging pockets. Tyson likes to repeat the aphorism “old too soon, wise too late.”
You know Mayweather respects Tyson’s ring mastery. You know he respects how Tyson stayed “true” to the streets even when it was foolhardy to do so.
You know Mayweather respects how Tyson never bowed to anyone.
Tyson could be the urgently needed “Dutch uncle” that Mayweather has never had.
A young Tyson had two such figures in his life but first Cus D’Amato died and then so did Jimmy Jacobs. The remaining adult figure, the pompous windbag Bill Cayton (“sure you know what I’m saying is perfectly correct”), had no such emotional grip on Iron Michael.
Hey Floyd, hey Mike, it’s a worth a try.
