Don’t Be Like Mike, Floyd
As prospects for a pound-for-pound mega-fight with Manny Pacquiao fade like cigarette smoke, the situation of Floyd Mayweather Jr. is beginning to resemble that of another fighter who once dominated the headlines. That fighter is Mike Tyson.
Mayweather was only a child when Tyson reached his all-too-brief prime during the late 1980s. But the heavyweight crown rested uneasily upon the head of ?Iron Mike.? A famous cartoon from that time period shows Tyson standing in his usual pose over a fallen foe. The fallen foe is ? Tyson.
Tyson?s turmoil outside the ring contributed to his upset loss to Buster Douglas, and was also a factor in Tyson?s subsequent decline from the destroyer who made his opponents look like tenpins getting hit by a bowling ball to a one-punch-at-a-time plodder who couldn?t handle adversity. Can Mayweather?s upcoming courtroom battles have a similar effect on him in the ring?
Thus far, that seems unlikely. After all, Tyson neglected the skills that led his fans to rank him with the all-time greats of his division. Mayweather, in contrast, is always in shape and has never gone unprepared into a fight, regardless of the quality of the opponent.
Also, Tyson folded whenever his foes stood up to him. When things don?t go Mayweather?s way, he adjusts, as he did in his recent contest with Shane Mosley. Imagine, if you can, some welterweight underdog pulling a Buster Douglas on Mayweather.
Beyond the ropes, though, it?s another ? and more similar ? story. True, Mayweather has not been convicted or incarcerated for a serious crime, as was Tyson. That could change before long, though.
Mayweather is facing four felony charges stemming from an alleged domestic assault against the mother of two of his children. He is also charged with stealing the same woman?s iPhone. As well, Mayweather faces harassment charges. If he gets convicted of everything he?s been charged with, Mayweather could score a maximum of 34 years in the slammer.
The Pacquiao-Mayweather duel was supposed to take place this November. Futile negotiations scuttled a fight that both hard-core and casual fans were eager to see. Instead of the squared circle, Mayweather?s November arena will be the courtroom in which his preliminary hearing is held.
Even before his latest sparring sessions with the law, Mayweather had to apologize for a videotaped rant against Pacquiao that was laden with racial and homophobic invective. Mayweather?s tirade bore an uncomfortable similarity to Tyson?s infamous broadsides against Lennox Lewis before their fight in 2002 ? which, by the way, Lewis won.
Of course, Mayweather?s reference to Pacquiao as a ?little yellow chump? is not as gross as Tyson?s articulation of a desire to eat Lewis?s babies. Both comments, however, suggest an alarming lack of self-control.
Meanwhile, Don King, who lured Tyson away from original manager Bill Cayton, is now trying to ease into Mayweather?s corner.
In a USA Today article by Bob Valin, King is quoted as saying this about Mayweather: ?What you have is nobody who cares about him as a human being. They care about him as a cash register. And when they raid the cash register and there?s nothing left in the drawers, you won?t see them. They will disappear, just like the money did.?
Feel free to substitute Tyson for Mayweather, then think deja vu.
Whether or not Mayweather eventually fights Pacquiao, or ever fights again for that matter, it is not hard to imagine a cartoon showing Floyd standing over a bloodied, battered opponent who happens to look just like him.
Charles R. Saunders is the author of several books including Sweat and Soul: The Saga of Black Boxers in the Maritimes from the Halifax Forum to Caesars Palace. Considered by many to be one of the leading authorities on boxing in Canada, he is the current Vice-President of Boxing for the Society of North American Sports Historians and Researchers.
