For anybody who watched Bernard Hopkins try to intimidate Joe Calzaghe by calling him a white-boy or has heard Mexican chants of ?Guero, Guero?? at white fighters of almost any nationality, race isn?t exactly a secret.
It shouldn?t be, especially in the politically-incorrect game that can trace its history back to The Great Guero Hope.
The profanity is insulting, but there?s nothing wrong with a frank discussion of what is already there. Floyd Mayweather Jr. is being accused of dropping the race card in a headline-grabbing allegation that HBO announcers are biased against him and other African-American fighters.
It?s a well-worn card. Mayweather isn?t exactly the first — and he won?t be the last — to toss it on to the table. Although a minefield, it is always worth examining and boxing has never been afraid to do exactly that.
But Mayweather?s provocative allegation falls short of real examination.
He complains about an infatuation with Kelly Pavlik and Manny Pacquiao. They are as different as Youngstown, Ohio, and the Philippines. But they are also just nice guys who can fight and like to fight.
If that?s a bias, okay, then I?m as biased as Mayweather thinks HBO announcers are. I like nice guys who can fight. I like Sugar Shane Mosley. I still like Hopkins even after his choreographed taunts at Calzaghe in a Las Vegas ballroom jammed with reporters before Mayweather?s victory over Ricky Hatton last December.
Hopkins planned that scene the way George Carlin used to tell a joke. Hopkins had an audience, opportunity and stirred the pot with a rant that included Carlin?s seven dirty words and then some.
I couldn?t help but think about Mosley when Mayweather?s shot at HBO hit the news last week. Before Mayweather?s victory over Oscar De La Hoya, he ridiculed Mosley for sparring with De La Hoya.
A sparring partner, Mayweather sneered, nothing but a damn sparring partner.
Maybe that one didn?t exactly qualify as bias according to Mayweather?s definition, but it definitely shows a lack respect for a craft that just wouldn?t be what it is without sparring partners.
A couple of days ago, I was at Central Boxing, a classic old gym in downtown Phoenix, and I ran into one of Pacquiao?s old sparring partners, Raimundo Beltran, who calls himself Brown Sugar and is training for a possible bout on a Pacquiao-promoted card in Cebu City in the Philippines. Pacquiao is his idol, Beltran says, mostly because he treats everybody with some genuine respect, or without bias.
?Manny is the nicest big-time champion I?ve ever been around,?? said Beltran, who sparred with Pacquiao before his one loss and two victories over Erik Morales, his rematch victory over Marco Antonio Barrera and his split decision in March over Juan Manuel Marquez. ?Manny lets you stay up in his suite. It?s no problem.
?A lot of these champions, it seems like they really change when they get big-time. But not Manny. When he comes into the ring, you always see him with that little smile on his face. That?s who he is, man. He?s happy to see you.??
Beltran was amazed to be surrounded by the hype and potential distraction that follow Pacquiao like a Filipino Pied Piper when he is at home. He was with Pacquiao in a Filipino training camp for several weeks before a unanimous decision last October over Barrera.
?I am from Mexico, which is very Catholic country,?? said Beltran, who was not a sparring partner for the victory over David Diaz because Pacquiao needed a left-hander. ?The Philippines are even more Catholic than Mexico. ?But over there, Pacquiao is a religion, man, a religion. The pope would draw a big crowd in the Philippines. But Manny would draw a much bigger one.??
No bias about it.
