As I watched one of the finest – boxing performances of the past 20 years, I could not help but think that Floyd Mayweather Jr. was clearly going to see the respect that has eluded him through much of his pro career. How could he not? He was not using his size to beat Juan Manuel Marquez but rather was doing what he always has done, and that is outclass his opponents from the opening bell. He took one of the most accurate punchers in the sport and made him irrelevant. Marquez could have come into the ring with a bat and still probably could not hit Floyd more than 20 percent. When the bell rang, it seemed vindication was ready for the Pretty Boy and yet once again the so called “informed” journalist sat behind their keyboards and created new reasons to hate.
Dan Rafael criticized the lack of the knockout, a fair point but not the dominating fact that Rafael wanted to make it out to be. It’s funny; I have never heard anyone try to deny Sugar Ray Robinson his glory because of failure to knock out Jake Lamotta. No, Robinson is credited with one of the greatest – boxing performances ever in that clash with Lamotta but that luxury was not afforded to Mayweather. They also came out with the routine, size argument, which I found funny. This is a person who had to gain significant weight to eliminate De La Hoya and the same man who took on the much larger Diego Corrales and embarrassed him in one of the most lopsided fights you will see broadcast on HBO. No one was there to cry wolf against those two men for taking on such a smaller fighter and yet Floyd can not catch a break. The media chooses to ignore the fact that Marquez simply could not touch him or the fact that Floyd spent a large majority of the fight on the outside where his size was nullified. The final straw was somehow criticizing Floyd for his post fight interview. The media chooses to ignore that Max Kellerman attempted to goad Mayweather into another Brian Kenney esque argument and then allowed Shane Mosley to dominate his interview.
These facts should not surprise us; the dawn of the Internet has given many of the jealous types a new outlet to vent their frustrations which are often petty and jaded. A basic search around the Internet will reveal that Hulk Hogan is somehow one of the most hated men among the so called “wrestling” media. How a soap opera has media, still boggles my mind, but it is a fact regardless that many of the “experts” despise Hogan. They view him as untalented, undeserving and a sub, par wrestler at best. Let me remind you, they refer to the man that took wrestling from auditoriums to arenas as untalented. They view the man who made wrestling mainstream as undeserving. Do you see the problem with that logic? It is the same in the blind hate of Floyd Mayweather.
The fact is many of us in the media are not fighters nor do we live glamorous lives. In our lives many of us work hard, and we do not always win, with that logic in mind; does it make sense that the media loves guys like Arturo Gatti, Mickey Ward, and the Mexican champs who did not always win but gave it their all? Mayweather does not put on an act he does not care to act humble, and he acts as he wants to act. It is not a wise strategy, and it has given him some many publicized financial troubles, but the fact is he lives a life that many of us could only dream . He is rich, cocky, could have any woman in the world, and oh he is also one of the best athletes of the past 50 years. How can we the average fans ever relate to that? We live normal lives, and thus we see ourselves in the Gatti’s of the world and we hope that if they can succeed so can we. I also suspect there’s a deeper and darker motive behind the hate of Floyd Mayweather.
I will preface this part of the column by saying I’m a conservative who has no time for the race baiting Rev. Al’s of the world. To be blunt, I’m no wine and cheese liberal who still views race divisions as being a critical issue in this country. So now that I’ve gotten that out of the way let’s just be honest, the largely white boxing press in this country has a problem with any fighter who does not play the role the media likes in its fighters. The part I’m referring to is the humble, warrior image that’s been popularized by many in the media going all the way back to Nat Fleischer and the start of the boxing press.
Let’s do a historical rundown… Jack Johnson, a man who had no interest in fitting into what the white man expected of him, and was ridiculed by many in the media. Muhammad Ali, a man who represented the ultimate threat to many in Middle America, found himself vilified by the boxing press and media at large to the point they would not refer to him as Muhammad. When he eventually made his peace with white America, it seemed all was forgiven. The final example is Roy Jones Jr; he played the part that many wanted of him early in his career. Who can forget the clean spoken Roy Jones as commentator during his prime? He seemed like a courteous and humble guy, then he started picking up an interest in rap and basketball and all of a sudden the media began to question his opponents and ignore the fact that he was largely unbeatable by any opponent.
The media has cherry picked fighters based upon how they fit into the worldview we want to see. We want our champions to be humble, hardworking, well spoken, and most of all willing to conform. Any threat to that pattern and you’re turned upon instantly. I do not advocate Floyd’s lifestyle, but I also will not ignore the remarkable abilities that he possesses. He is a one in a million type fighter and yet we cloud this vision because he does not meet Middle America’s desires. The boxing press is not racist they will, however, celebrate a man who fits the profile and anyone who does not fit this is not welcome as far as they’re concerned.
It is time for this pettiness to stop, we the media are not here to be social commentators, we are here to break down a sport and the combatants abilities at that sport. You will not hear another social commentary come from me again but the hate that’s been spewed these past two days have sickened me to the point that I could not be silent. I do not respect the man but I sure as hell respect his abilities and, it is time for, all media to do the same.
