Floyd Mayweather Jr. has recently single handedly taken the promotional aspect of boxing by its horns and rode it all the way and then some, while reining it in completely. He has also taken this opportunity to use the publicity he?s been receiving to express some of his concerns honestly and openly with the public. You couldn?t ask for any better press quips or quotables than we are getting from ?Pretty Boy? these days. Now he is more vociferous than ever, expounding on everything from what he thinks of Golden Boy Promotions, ?They?re no different from Bob Arum?, to some of Oscar?s wins, ?He got a lot of gifts?, and even how he views him as a pugilist, ?He?s a fake ass fighter?. To say that Floyd has been lenient in his war of words couldn?t be further from the truth. He has taken his future opponent and laid him out on the chopping block. Now if this is a wise strategy at this point is yet to be determined. Will he chop him up in the ring as well?
The question of whether or not Floyd Mayweather Jr. can defeat Oscar De La Hoya is of no concern to Mayweather at this time. And we have all seen the effect that incessant and conflictive statements from opponents have had on De La Hoya in the past, as far as his motivation and performance in the ring is concerned ? just ask Ricardo Mayorga, who retired after the shellacking he got from Oscar. He returned of course, but Mayorga is no Floyd Mayweather Jr., however. And this is no regular fight either. This is a super fight and one that we have all been waiting for, for quite some time. Now, if we can just get the particulars out of the way and get down to business.
An impending mass of speculation and amateurish and ?expert? opinions on every side (side note – there?s really no such thing, unless you?re an accomplished fighter ? writing opinions while never actually having stepped foot in a ring to fight doesn?t qualify you as an ?expert?, sorry, it just doesn?t) have been trying to take the guesswork out of this fight and compare notes as to who is going to come out victorious. And rightfully so I might add. This bout is the biggest, I repeat, the biggest boxing event to have come around in a very, very long time. A non-heavyweight extravaganza as well? We should only be so lucky.
This is the type of explosive contest that only comes around once in our short lifetimes if we are fortunate enough. Dempsey vs. Willard, Zale vs. Graziano, Ali vs. Frazier, all of these bouts were brilliant and benchmarks of their respective eras. Hopefully this bout can be added to the short, but durable list of benchmarks that we have experienced as boxing fans over the past couple of decades. The fights mentioned are not being compared to this one, or vice versa, but let?s hope that for our sakes this match up turns out to be more leather than lace, and far more substance than glitz and glamour. The clock it ticking.
And as the clock ticks away like a virtual time bomb, and we sit and watch glued to our screens, patiently awaiting to see two massive fighters of our time mix it up under the hot lights and closed circuit cameras for our viewing pleasure, it really makes you appreciate boxing for what it is. Strip away all the lights, the overpaid commentators, the domineering networks and the greedy promoters and what you are left with is two men in a roped off ring imposing their wills upon each other and wanting to be victorious in the end. From the sound of things Floyd Mayweather Jr. plans on sounding off one more time in the ring against Oscar De La Hoya on May 5th in a dance that needs no words. De La Hoya will be waiting. And so will we.
