Now Floyd Mayweather Blames Arum For Ducking Margarito! (This article was originally posted at BoxingInsider.com on November 2, 2006.) By Scoop Malinowski: Floyd Mayweather has already given us over a dozen excuses and reasons to not fight Antonio Margarito for the last eight months. Now Floyd has created yet another.
Speaking with David Mayo of the Grand Rapids Press, Mayweather seems to have learned it?s the smartest and safest policy to just ignore Margarito when confronted with a question about battling his apparent bogeyman. ?I don?t really want to talk about this guy (Margarito),? said Mayweather this week. ?Because I see certain things that Bob Arum does that don?t make any sense. He says I?m the best fighter in the business, I?m the best fighter since Muhammad Ali. But then he?s talking about me ducking and dodging a fighter. He kicks me out of his boxing gym, then wants me to fight his fighter. How can you do talk about doing future business with me if you?re conducting yourself with disorderly conduct? He?s a grumpy old man.?
So Floyd says he doesn?t want to go to war with Margarito or do business with Arum because Arum is conducting himself disorderly? Yeah, right. Bob Arum is guilty of nothing but only trying to produce a fight which Floyd himself has said many times would be ?easy work? and that he?d ?punish? Margarito for being on such a lower skill level than himself.
If you recall, Floyd was loudly proclaiming Arum to be the greatest promoter of all-time earlier this year. But when Arum tried to make Floyd fight Margarito three times by offering him a career high $8 million plus PPV upside, Arum suddenly fell out of his good graces. I guess you?re only the best promoter to Floyd if you protect him with million dollar safe legacy fights against 35-year-olds with nine losses, and MOST IMPORTANTLY you don?t try to force him to fight certain fighters LIKE ANTONIO MARGARITO who can brutally knock him out in front of the whole wide world.
This is all just another lame excuse from a marvelously talented but mysteriously hesitant and reluctant fighter who doesn?t seem to have the courage to fight or even commit to fighting Antonio Margarito in the near future.
Ask yourself: If Floyd really wanted to stick it to Bob Arum wouldn?t he just sign the $8 million contract, make easy work of the allegedly hyped-up Margarito and be done with it?
