“Good fight Nate!”
Those were the words from Floyd Mayweather Jr. to Lightweight contender Nate Campbell on March 8th, 2008 just moments after the Jacksonville, Florida native had finished polishing off then champion Juan Diaz at the Plaza de Toros in Cancun, Mexico. Moments later Campbell would be awarded the decision win in his finest victory as a professional and Mayweather was there ringside to take in the action on that night as a spectator.
Despite being well into his ‘retirement’ in the sport, that March night spoke volumes about Mayweather’s involvement and interest in the sport. Dressed head to toe in a very dapper cream suit, Mayweather stood out as more than just a casual fan and his obvious connection to the sweet science was extremely evident, as he certainly could have been anywhere else on the globe besides a beat up, old-fashioned bull ring in the heart of Cancun.
With that in mind one has to wonder where exactly Mayweather will be tomorrow night when Joshua Clottey attempts to wrestle the WBO Welterweight strap away from champion Manny Pacquiao at Dallas Cowboys Stadium. Despite seeming to dismiss Pacquiao in just about every regard in the past few months, Mayweather is an obvious fan at heart and the results of the Pacquiao-Clottey contest could surely impact his own future in the sport.
“Floyd won’t admit it, but without a doubt he’ll be paying attention to this weekend’s fight,” BoxingScene columnist Jake Donovan opens up. “He deserves a lot of credit for having people believe that he doesn’t care about the sport unless it’s his own event, but Saturday’s fight is a big part of his future, if Pacquiao wins, at least. He’d be ignorant not to tune in.”
Dibella Entertainment matchmaker Joe Quiambao seems to share the same sentiments as Donovan. While Mayweather may be disparaging with his comments towards Pacquiao, he will certainly be keeping an eye on all of the developments tomorrow night.
“He will be tuning in like a lot of us are because we want to see how Pacquiao responds to a legit and strong top 5 Welterweight who is coming to take his head off,” Quiambao claims. “If he looks bad, Floyd will say he will beat him and if he looks impressive, he will say he still will beat him as well,”
West Coast boxing scribe David Avila chimed in that Mayweather and his Uncles are real boxing guys who always watch the sport and that there is ‘no question’ Floyd will be tuning in tomorrow night. Another man who seems to agree, yet feels that Floyd may try to play things off is former Welterweight prospect Kili-Scott Madrid, who can now be found on ESPN’s airwaves playing cards as an intricate part of The World Series of Poker.
“We all know Floyd will be stuck to the TV in the privacy of his own home watching the fight real close,” Madrid chimes in. “Then he’ll try to play it off and say that he didn’t see it and doesn’t care to watch the fight when in reality Manny is his meal ticket to greatness.”
Former amateur standout Eric Kelly, who still remains closely connected to the sport, seems to be on the exact same page as Madrid. Kelly is a former Golden Gloves champion whose potentially great professional career never got on track due to an eye injury. Kelly feels that Mayweather’s pride will see him claiming that he has no interest while in reality he knows how important the contest is.
“I am sure that he will,” Kelly says. “Even if he says that he wont. Floyd knows what’s on the line and it’s only right for him to be a bit curious and worried. But like I stated previously, Floyd and Manny are milking the system with this. We know how the game goes, and what it takes to build a spectacle.”
Matt Yano, a publicist for Prize Fight Promotions who also runs his own website, www.GardenStateFightScene.com, feels that Mayweather will watch with intentions of breaking down the action while still finding a way to discredit the winner on Saturday night. Martin Mulcahey, who has contributed to both ESPN and MaxBoxing in the past, believes that Mayweather will be rooting for Pacquiao to emerge victorious but doesn’t feel he will be able to take much away from the contest given the drastic difference in style between himself and the rugged African.
“Absolutely he will watch, and have a rooting interest in Pacquiao winning,” Mulcahey states. “But not in terms of helping him as far as scouting Pacquiao. His and Clottey’s style are too divergent and their fight will have different attributes.”
Everyone seems to be on the same page with their beliefs that Mayweather will have a vested interest in the contest tomorrow night. Opinions began to vary, however, when the question of whether or not Floyd truly wants to fight Pacquiao down the road is raised.
“Yes he does,” Kelly starts off. “He’s just letting the suspense build up. After Saturday, when Pac beats Clottey, Mayeather vs. Pacquaio will be bigger than it is now. I love Pac, he is awesome and will be too mobile and quick for the more methodical Clottey. Now dont get me wrong, Clottey will give Pac a true test. His hardest test since the last time he fought Marquez at least.”
While Kelly fully believes that Mayweather and Pacquiao are trying to stir the pot and keep the public’s interest perking, Yano seems to agree on some accounts. The New Jersey resident believes that Mayweather wants a showdown with the Filipino icon, but not as much to cement his legacy as to fill up his bank account.
“Mayweather is all about the pay check and that is why he hasn’t fought high risk, low reward opponents such as Clottey and Paul Williams,” Yano claims. “Pacquiao-Mayweather is a fight that will bring fans back to the sport that haven’t watched in years. Sure, the fight being called off was bad, but at the end of the day, a victory by both and the bout being rescheduled will only create more hype and more pay per view buys.”
Chiming in with his thoughts, Quiambao feels that it is a matter of pride both in and out of the ropes. While the former Golden Gloves champion feels that Floyd truly does want a fight with Manny, he feels the two men will have to iron out their differences at the negotiating tables for the contest to become a reality.
”I feel he would fight him but wants it on his terms,” Quimabao points out. “All this back and forth is just for getting the mental edge over the other. It wasn’t like Pacquiao didn’t want to take the test. He did want to take it, he just didn’t want to take the test 14 days before the bout. He wanted to take it 21 days before and right after the bout”
The only man who seems to feel that Mayweather isn’t interested in a bout with Pacquiao at the moment is Madrid. The Honolulu native believes that Pacquiao’s recent run of success may have done enough to make Mayweather wait until the champion is a little more ripe for the picking.
”As of right now I don’t think Mayweather wants to fight Pacquiao while Pacquiao is in his prime,” Madrid feels. “Being that Mayweather doesn’t fight very often and is extremely healthy and doesn’t take punishment, he will wait until Pacquiao is a little more run down and then i think he will fight him because he knows that Pac has been in a lot of wars and that will benifit him.”
When Pacquiao and Mayweather failed to find a way to make their March 13th date a reality, many people in the public began claiming that Mayweather was simply looking for a way out of the contest. Many boxing insiders feel that Mayweather has a history of ducking his greatest challenges but Mulcahey isn’t jumping on the wagon.
“These men are professionals and have been fighting for decades,” Mulcahey claims. “They do not fear each other, and actually look forward to testing themselves. They want to face each other the same way NBA players enjoy going one on one. Ego’s play a role, but fear does not. I have openly rooted against Floyd in the past, I was a big Genaro Hernandez fan, but appreciate his skills and in no way believed he actively ducked another boxer.”
One man who has gotten to know Floyd on a first hand basis over the years is Avila, who has connected with him while covering fights in Las Vegas and has also witnessed his training up in Big Bear, California. He fully believes that Mayweather’s competitive nature is genuine and instead seems to question what Top Rank’s intentions are for Pacquiao’s future.
“Floyd Mayweather is an ultra competitor,” Avila states. “I know he truly wants to fight Manny Pacquiao. But he has Shane Mosley on his plate right now and that’s no appetizer. That is a toss up fight. What if it is really close? I would think they would do another fight. The real question is will Top Rank match Manny Pacquiao against the Mayweather-Mosley winner? Bob Arum didn’t let Manny fight Shane Mosley last November. He pressed and pressed for Miguel Cotto.”
Taking a page from Avila, Donovan closes out with his belief that a Manny Pacquiao clash is high on Mayweather’s to-do list. When looking at the Olympic-style drug testing fiasco that broke down the negotiations to a potential Pacquiao-Mayweather contest, Donovan fully believes that at one point Floyd was genuine with his intentions of facing Manny.
“I absolutely believe he wants the fight, and believe it or not, I think he wants the fight more than Pacquiao. Say what you want about the blood tests and the posturing and all that. When it came time to save the fight, Pacquiao’s side, perhaps Arum more so than anyone else, seemed resigned to the fact that it was dead and were ready to move on, while Floyd’s side was still willing to salvage it, although sticking to his guns on the random blood testing issue. At one point I questioned whether or not either guy really wanted this fight, at least this soon. At this present moment, I truly believe Floyd wants – or at least wanted – Pacquiao.”
