At the moment there are a lot question marks surrounding the future of Floyd Mayweather Jr. The highly-talented and boastful undefeated fighter seems to be one of the few fighters in the sport capable of making headlines without saying a single word. In not answering promoter Bob Arum?s midnight deadline this past Friday night in conjunction with a possible November 13th clash with Manny Pacquiao, Mayweather cast doubt as how serious he was about making the contest happen and a wave of backlash has ensued.
One man who feels that Floyd is getting a bad rap is his Uncle Jeff Mayweather, a world class trainer in the Las Vegas area. The trainer feels that Floyd is unjustly being portrayed in a bad light in wake of another fallout with Pacquiao and doesn?t feel his nephew should have been in a position where he was facing any stipulations in the first place.
?First of all Bob Arum is not Floyd?s boss,? Jeff told the Examiner Sunday night. ?So he can?t demand anything for Lil? Floyd. That?s the first of everything. This man isn?t his promoter. It?s one of these situations where Floyd or Manny could do well without one another. But who was he to set a deadline? ?
Mayweather went on to state that while the public is painting it as though Floyd simply refused to accept terms on a fight with Pacquiao that there was more to the story that simply that. Jeff claims that Floyd was remaining firm on his drug testing stance, this time insisting that both fighters be randomly testing leading up to the bout. Mayweather claims that Pacquiao was only willing to go up until 14 days prior to the fight and the two men again found themselves facing a hurdle they couldn’t jump.
?At the end of the day it boils down to the same things that happened the first time the negotiations went down,? Jeff stated. ?First off Pacquiao wanted to do 30 days. Then he went down to 24 days. Then he agreed to 14 days. But he said that he agreed to random testing up to 14 days. I never knew that random had a cutoff. So basically if you don?t have a cutoff it doesn?t mean it?s random at all. That?s why negotiations went down. It was the same as before.?
There is still some definite confusion regarding the developments related to the second round of negotiations. Promoter Bob Arum revealed that he had attempted to iron out a deal with Mayweather?s advisor Al Haymon, but that neither man spoke directly to one another and instead went through HBO president Ross Greenburg. Arum claims that he had Haymon were able to reach a deal that was satisfactory to all parties but Jeff doesn?t feel that Floyd was fully on board.
?To be honest I don?t think anyone even contacted Floyd,? Jeff believed. ?I think it was just self negotiation. Because realistically I haven?t read one article where Floyd said anything. It looks like this was all Bob?s negotiation.?
But what about Lil? Floyd?s silence throughout the process? Some find it odd that Mayweather literally had nothing to say in regards to his stance on the issues as well as the deadline presented to Bob Arum. Speaking further Jeff feels that Floyd wasn?t in a position where he had to defend himself, thus nothing needed to be said.
?I just think that there was really nothing to say,? he continued. ?He didn?t really need to say anything. Because he knew that he had agreed to the random testing. People haven?t really seen Floyd. What?s the point of saying anything??
Mayweather was spotted in Miami on Sunday participating in a charity basketball game hosted by Heat stars Dwayne Wade and Alonzo Mourning. During his time in South Florida Floyd told the press that he wasn?t focusing on boxing and just was going to relax with his family for the time being. Jeff feels that Floyd will likely spend the next few months reconnecting with his friends from the sports world and will probably bounce around from city to city to keep himself occupied. He still does see a return for his nephew and seems to have one man in mind who might make for an ideal opponent if a Pacquiao bout can?t be made.
?I think that Floyd is going to fight in 2011,? Jeff said. ?I think everybody is talking about Timothy Bradley now. To me he wasn?t that impressive but people are still talking about him. I watched the fight and I don?t remember him saying Floyd?s name. They asked him about who he wanted to fight and he said Manny, then Devon Alexander, Amir Khan, and Maidana. He said all those guys but Floyd would be his biggest payday.?
Whatever happens with Floyd, there is still some confusion as to the future of Pacquiao, however. The WBO welterweight champion is penciled to fight on November 13th regardless but his newfound political duties as a congressman in the province of Sarangani in his native Philippines leaves some serious uncertainty as to his 2011 plans.
?Of course I can?t really speculate whether he is still fighting or not,? Mayweather said of Pacquiao. ?I do think the Floyd fight was a retirement package. I think he had to spend a lot of money to win that election because he was going up against an entire family and it wasn?t cheap. Of course he?s going to fight Top Rank fighters. You have Margarito, you have Cotto, and I?m sure he has somebody else. But it will be good if Manny wins because that gives hope that a fight with Floyd will possibly happen next year.?
