Gennady Golovkin, the knockout artist from Kazakhstan, has recently been rechristened Good Boy. Rechristenings come and go with the frequency of small-time promoters struggling to survive. But why Golovkin is called Good Boy as opposed to Bad Boy is a mystery wrapped in an enigma and can be added to the list of life?s imponderables.
The Good Boy moniker is all the more curious in light of Floyd Mayweather?s good behavior during the press tour touting his upcoming fight with Canelo Alvarez. Although Mayweather himself underwent a rechristening not long ago, Pretty Boy Floyd, with its real life gangsta connotations, having been replaced by the succinct but no less appropriate Money, he also could have been called Good Boy, at least until such time as Good Boy ceased to be appropriate.
In this instance, it was none other than Oscar De La Hoya who was playing with matches.
The President of Golden Boy Promotions, whose present objectives are identical to Mayweather?s, appeared to deviate from the script by saying some complimentary things about Canelo. He told RingTV, coincidentally a Golden Boy property, ?When I fought him (Mayweather) in 2007, he might be the same Floyd. Fresh, better shape, young, strong, I don?t see any difference. I still see the same movement.?
It wasn?t the worst thing Oscar might have said, but it was bad enough.
De La Hoya also spoke to BoxingChannel, incidentally a daVinci property made credible by the presence of Al Bernstein, about the catchweight which presumably favors Money May. ?I think it?s a little bit of that insecurity factor coming into play,? Oscar said. ?If you fight someone, you don?t need to shave off a couple of pounds because you feel they?re going to come in weak or because it?s going to be an advantage. We have weight classes for that reason. It?s going to help Canelo?s speed and help him be a faster fighter.?
Calling Mayweather insecure is no way to win friends and influence people. But then Oscar crossed the line when he said, ?With the help of the people surrounding him, Canelo is on his way to becoming great.?
That sounds harmless on its face. But in order for Canelo to be great, and he?s on no one?s top 10 pound-for-pound list at the moment, he?ll have to beat the greater than great fighter we call Money May. De La Hoya is a boxing guy. Does he really believe Mayweather is about to taste defeat? Surely he knows better. Maybe he was trying to spice things up and build the gate.
No matter, because Floyd did not take kindly to the remarks. In Los Angeles yesterday, the final leg of the nine-day press junket, De La Hoya added fuel to the fire when he told the 10,000 predominantly Mexican fans crammed into Nokia Plaza what he thought they wanted to hear.
Oscar said he was ?convinced Canelo will win.?
That was the last straw. Mayweather took the gloves off, so to speak, dropped the Mr. Nice Guy pose and finally spoke his mind.
?They never said a word in the first nine cities,? he said. ?They were totally quiet. Now, all of a sudden we?re in L.A. and they?re talking big, like Canelo is the king. Well, as you saw, if you shoot shots at me, I?ll shoot shots back.?
Removing his metaphorical Colt .45 from its holster, brandishing his allegorical AK, Mayweather took aim and fired, ?I can?t speak about Oscar, but one thing I?ll tell you. Richard Schaefer is Golden Boy.?
The crowd hissed and hooted in Spanish.
Much has been made of the above remarks. If those words were placed in a bowl, blended with cream and sugar with a maraschino cherry on top, one would have a delectable if not necessarily nutritious concoction.
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