The first episode of HBO’s 24/7 series focusing on Floyd Mayweather Jr and September 17th opponent and WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz saw the former reprising his role as the villain of the show after an argument broke out between Mayweather and his father Floyd Sr. in the closing minutes.
Initially bantering over two female boxers, the Mayweather father and son duo quickly degenerated into hurling obscenities at each other, seemingly over whether it was Roger or Floyd Sr. who was the most instrumental in developing Floyd Jr into the boxing talent he eventually became.
Which eventually lead to:
Sr: You better not f**k with me motherf**ker
Jr: You ain’t even supposed to be fu**ing in my gym get the f**k out my gym
Sr: “Come put me out your gym you motherf**king punk, come put me out your gym punk, come put me out motherf**ker” Advertisement
After later referring to his father as a ‘cab driver’ and making several other disparaging remarks about Sr’s career as a fighter, Roger Mayweather of all people eventually lead Jr away and calmed things down.
Aside from ensuring that the subsequent episodes of 24/7 enjoy decent viewing figures, the other main impact of the altercation was that it left many people wondering whether it was genuine or scripted.
Was it not a strange coincidence that Mayweather Sr. happened to show up when the cameras were rolling, or that due to his previous four appearances on the series many were expecting the segments featuring Floyd Jr to be rather predictable? (And perhaps in need of something like a ridiculous squabble to retain viewer interest)
Mayweather aside from his undoubted talents in the ring has also shown a knack for acting on occasion, switching between his various personas depending on who he interacts with.
In mainstream interviews, Floyd Jr always makes sure that he comes across as polite and respectful, even if posed questions on topics he plainly isn’t comfortable speaking about.
At other times Floyd’s ‘money’ persona comes out and he happily plays the villain, trash talking his opponents and bragging about his achievements or bank balance in equal measure.
In his adopted hometown of Las Vegas various parties have claimed that late at night there is a third side to him, one of alleged open hostility to anyone who crosses his path, particularly when surrounded by his ever present squad of gigantic bodyguards.
Would his skills as an amateur thespian then be up to the task of arguing with his father on film? Undoubtedly.
Also perhaps tellingly, after telling his father to leave the gym not one of Mayweather’s aforementioned heavies made any move to remove his father from the building, instead letting the whole incident last several more minutes and be captured on camera.
Not to mention that if the argument was really genuine, wouldn’t one Floyd or the other also have insisted that it be removed from the footage? If not for themselves then for the members of the Mayweather family who aren’t seen on film and wouldn’t enjoy watching it?
On the other hand given the Mayweather clan’s long and storied history of feuds and various members not communicating with each other for years on end, the kind of disagreement seen on 24/7 might be a semi-regular occurrence and something not viewed as a major issue.
The difficult relationship between Floyd and his father has been well documented and even after all these years their relationship is still said to be strained at best.
Ely Martell, Pitt: “It looked genuine, but then it was good hype for the show so it could have been set up. Sr. saying he would beat Floyd’s ass was hilarious either way”
