There he was clad in all black, almost in funeral mode as his truly historic career comes to an end, trying to justify a match that is dead on arrival. Floyd Mayweather, complete with the same TMT fitted cap that now seems whack and tighter than ever around his enormously egocentric head, was in complete defensive mode – a place where he usually reigns supreme – over the preposterous selection of the crude Andre Berto to run his record to 49-0 (27KO) (Oh yes, he’ll knockout Berto). Photo by Stephen Dunn/Getty Images
A press conference of the variety which took place yesterday at a non-descript ballroom in Los Angeles for the world’s best fighter, should’ve contained elements of big Hollywood theater. Instead, it had the feel of a scandal wrought with a tone indicative of foul play, as men like Keith Thurman, Amir Khan, Timothy Bradley, Shawn Porter or Kell Brook probably watch in disgust. ADVERTISING
In the words of Daffy Duck (who reportedly watched this thing with Bugs Bunny): This is despicable.
As we reported the other day “Floyd Mayweather confirms Andre Berto on Sept. 12: $75 and the middle finger”, this should actually be a great action fight and one of the best Mayweather fights you’ve ever seen. Andre Berto, muscle bound and brave, will be so available for a sharpshooter like the invisible Mayweather, that “Money” will not be able to resist throwing the type of dimes that would be worthy of praise from ESPN NFL analyst and former QB Trent Dilfer during a Sportscenter segment.
This is going to be a boxing version of “American Sniper”, which Mayweather replacing Bradley Cooper while only using Berto as target practice. More than likely, the terrible atmosphere that existed at yesterday’s press conference would’ve been completely different had this fight been for Premiere Boxing Champions on CBS.
Making the public pay an absolutely egregious $75 (yeah, like people really want to save “Money” by forking over $65 for the right to not see it in HD), will hurt Mayweather in ways perhaps imaginable to him, as evidenced by his very subdued nature yesterday. Say what he wants about Manny Pacquiao, he was only able to receive such a massive payday because of Manny’s incredible eight championship division prowess.
The only way to justify fighting Berto, as opposed to the qualified men mentioned above, is if he would’ve just gone through with the fight on CBS. His brilliant manager Al Haymon, who was never mentioned once (imagine that and let that sink in) during yesterday’s presser, is reportedly at very strong odds over this Showtime PPV event.
Nothing this man has done for Mayweather– or any move he’s made for that matter since assuming control of Floyd’s career after jettisoning Top Rank in 2006, has proven to be a wrong one. Fighting an Andre Berto on PPV, who was beaten up by Victor Ortiz, Robert Guerrero and Jesus Soto-Karass, is arrogant and around the corner from obnoxious.
To put this into complete context, Berto not only cannot beat Thurman, Khan, Bradley, Porter or Brook, but I’m not sure he’d beat recent Thurman victim Luis Collazo in a rematch of their hotly contested bout. Brandon Rios would pound him and Marcos Maidana would kill him. So incensed was ESPN’s go-to-guy for fight coverage Dan Rafael, that I imagined him kicking buckets of popcorn around the room as he offered this excellent write up of yesterday’s event.
He murdered Floyd for offering his sorry ass sales pitch at the podium, and later, at the ESPN studio in Los Angeles. The piece from Rafael includes classic footage of Floyd doing his best to con himself while trying to con you, but not before finding himself on the defensive from UFC Bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey (recent winner of the “best fighter” ESPY), who he still managed to take a few shots at. The pound-for-pound champ, clearly uncomfortable with many upset at this pound-for-pound chump route, can’t stand Rousey, but took the high road after hitting her low with ‘call me when you can make 300 million in 36 minutes’.
Again, had this been a PBC event, no one’s complaining at all, for it would fall under the auspices of an exhibition where anything (like a 100-1 upset) could happen in front of an ecstatic audience of casual fans in the millions. Instead, he’ll get hardcore glares from the hardcore, with few casuals that will care, leaving him to stare in front of a mirror that cannot lie.
On September 12, should you choose to pay for it, your eyes will see that although a lie has speed – the truth has endurance. Floyd should put Berto together and take him apart in less than 30 minutes (he’ll gun down and bury Berto in about 10 rounds), but whether history regards him as an incomplete puzzle, is an entirely different story.
