By now, everyone knows about Floyd Mayweather Jr. and his 90-day jail sentence. Fans and critics have lit up message boards and social media sites with Mayweather talk and their different takes on the situation. Some are openly gloating at the controversial fighter finally getting his comeuppance, some are expressing their distaste for the sentence and it’s affect on a potential fight with Manny Pacquiao.
Others, like yours truly, feel that a fighter’s personal life should not matter a bit in the public boxing discourse.AdChoices
Let’s face it, you won’t find many saints in the tough, dog-eat-dog world of professional prize fighting. As a matter of fact, if you want to dig into just about any fighter’s personal life, you will likely find some unpleasant and/or downright awful skeletons in their closet.
Beloved fighters such as Arturo Gatti and Diego Corrales had domestic violence charges issued against them. Legendary figures like Bernard Hopkins, Pernell Whitaker, Mike Tyson, Jake LaMotta, and Sonny Liston, among many, have suffered through significant prison sentences. And let’s not even begin to talk about big-time fighters who have succumbed to alcohol and drug dependency or got bogged down in illegal business activities.
Even poster boy for all things great and awesome, Manny Pacquiao, has a massive load of dirty laundry in his private life, including infidelity, gambling, dog fighting, and some questionable contractual dealings.
This not to point a finger at one fighter or to absolve another for wrongdoings and illegal activity because, again, if you were to judge boxers under the same criteria you would use to vet a Presidential candidate or personal assistant, there wouldn’t be too many fighters who could pass the test.
Instead, it’s a plea to put things in their proper perspective. A fighter’s personal life should be about as important to a fight fan as a Walmart cashier’s family life is to someone waiting in line.
In other words, boxing talk should begin and end with a fighter’s in-ring work and only extend out to those issues which directly affect his performance. Boxing is no place for talk of personal or familial issues. Those that do dwell on taking cheap shots on moral grounds just come off sounding like true hypocrites.
Take all the shots you like at a fighter when it comes to the execution of his job, but the personal life should be off-limits. Private matters should have no affect on how a fighter’s ability is judged or how his legacy is assessed. This character assassination, whether it be against Mayweather, Pacquiao, or any other fighter, deserves no space on any site dedicated to real boxing discourse.
Paul Magno was a licensed official in the state of Michoacan, Mexico and a close follower of the sport for more than thirty years. He is the editor in chief of The Boxing Tribune, the only major boxing news site that refuses to accept promoter or network advertising. He is also a contributor to Fox Sports. In the past, Paul has done work for Inside Fights, The Queensberry Rules and Eastside Boxing.
