The Juice is in a category all by himself ? a presumed wife-killer who beat the system only to have the gods dish out cosmic payback after Simpson was charged with various unrelated felonies and sentenced to 33 years in prison. The next time we’ll see him is when HBO brings back the Oz series.
Mayweather is very much alive, active and annoying, sullying his legacy as one of the greatest fighters of our generation.
His latest classless missteps came late Saturday night with a one-two punch. First, he cold-cocked Victor Ortiz in the closing seconds of the fourth round of their welterweight championship fight while Ortiz was apologizing for an intentional head butt.
Yes, what Ortiz did was idiotic ? first the head butt and then letting his guard down while referee Joe Cortez had his back turned toward the fighters. But what Mayweather did ? perfectly legit under strict interpretation of the rules ? was a punk move.
But he was just getting started.
Mayweather then went after HBO analyst Larry Merchant in a post-fight interview, spewing profanities before Merchant grew tired of it and yelled, “I wish I was 50 years younger and I would kick your [butt].”
It seems everybody wants a piece of Mayweather these days, especially fight fans who went ballistic after spending $59.95 in pay-per-view bucks for this nonsense.
But the guy who most wants a shot at Mayweather is Manny Pacquiao, an eight-division world champion who has watched Mayweather dodge, duck and weave out of the biggest fight in boxing history.
Mayweather wants no part of it. His demands that Pacquiao undergo unprecedented extensive blood-testing are his convenient smokescreen. In the macho-man world of professional boxing, Mayweather is the ultimate coward. Perhaps he simply wants a tune-up fight against Larry Merchant before meeting Pacquiao. At 80, Merchant would come in as a 2-1 underdog.
Mayweather’s 42-0 record becomes irrelevant if he ducks Pacquiao. How can you say you are the best of all-time if you refuse to face the one fighter who can match your brilliance? Give Mayweather credit for this: He is an extremely talented man with an eccentric but brilliant work ethic. He has been known to round up his training partners after midnight for an after-hours workout session.
His defense and speed are impeccable. A matchup against Pac Man would be a classic contest between one of the best defensive specialists in boxing history and one of the most vaunted power-punchers in his division.
