Well, well, well. It looks as though Floyd Mayweather Jr. might not be restricting his fighting to a courtroom after all. Even though assault and other charges against him have not yet been resolved, Mayweather could be climbing into a boxing ring as early as this coming July. His rumored opponent: Paul ?The Pittsburgh Kid? Spadafora.
Floyd?s uncle, Jeff Mayweather, is skeptical that such a bout will occur. But Spadafora has, according to a report on boxingsocialist.com, ?verbally? agreed to the match.
Of course, the fight boxing fans still want to see is Mayweather against Manny Pacquiao. But the bloom of that magical matchup fades with each month it isn?t made. Instead of Mayweather, Pacquiao will face Shane on May 7 in a mismatch. The only question in this bout is whether or not Pacquiao will stop Mosley ? a feat none of Sugar Shane?s opponents, including Mayweather, has been able to accomplish.
So, if Pacquiao-Mosley is a mismatch, what does that make Mayweather-Spadafora? Let me put it this way. When Pacquiao?s contest against Antonio Margarito was announced last year, my reaction was: Ugh! My response to Pacquiao-Mosley? Ewwww! And Mayweather-Spadafora? Aargh!
Granted, Spadafora doesn?t look all that bad on paper. After all, the one-time lightweight champion is undefeated in 46 bouts, his only blemish being a draw against Leonard Dorin in a title-unification bout back in 2003. Also, Spadafora reportedly got the better of Mayweather during a 1999 sparring session, when they were both young guns (Spadafora is about a year older than Mayweather). That session will be the hook on which this bout will be sold ? if it?s actually made, and isn?t just baseless speculation.
In a contest against Mayweather, however, Spadafora?s credentials are as flimsy as the rice paper Kwai Chang Caine walked across in the old Kung Fu TV series.
With only 19 stoppages in his 45 wins, Spadafora doesn?t possess sufficient power to bother Mayweather. Speed would be the only asset the Pittsburgh Kid brings to the table, and at 35, his quickness isn?t what it used to be. Mayweather, on the other hand, doesn?t seem to have lost a step even though he?s now 34, an age at which most fighters are starting to lose their youthful zip.
Spadafora has had his own share of trouble with the law. He served 13 months in prison for shooting his girlfriend in the stomach (thankfully, she survived), and had another brief stint for a parole violation that was overturned. He vacated his lightweight title after the Dorin draw to fight at junior welterweight. But his problems outside the ring and his difficulties in securing meaningful bouts inside the squared circle shoved him far out of the spotlight. A match with Mayweather would put Spadafora right back in the spotlight?s glare. He?d be hard-pressed to withstand the heat, though.
The only chance Spadafora would have to score an upset would be if Mayweather failed to prepare properly due to the distractions his legal difficulties pose. But it?s hard to imagine that Mayweather would neglect his training against the guy who?s been chirping so much over a long-ago sparring encounter.
These two are defensive fighters, Spadafora more so than Mayweather. It?s hard to imagine them producing anything resembling a fan-friendly slugfest. Of course, Spadafora would have nothing to lose, which could be an advantage for him. At this stage in his career, though, he doesn?t have much of a chance to gain a win.
Given his choices of opponents in his last several fights, the message Pacquiao seems to be sending to Mayweather is: ?Floyd, I can beat anyone you ducked (Margarito and Miguel Cotto), and I can do a better job of whipping the fighters you beat (Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton and now, presumably, Mosley).?
Mayweather?s rejoinder appears to be: ?I can make a lousier mismatch than you can any day of the week, Manny.?
For the good of boxing, Mayweather and Pacquiao need to fight each other with their fists, not their egos. And they need to do it soon.
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, as well as the Imaro series of fantasy/adventure novels. 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.
