Well, Freddie Roach is Oscar De La Hoya’s trainer for the May 5 fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. The announcement was made Tuesday on an International conference call with 140 media members. I confess that despite the persistent rumors I am mildly surprised. Somehow I just felt that the legal situation of Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao with Golden Boy Promotions and Top Rank would put the kibosh on that assignment. But, in spite of several recent denials by Roach, the lure of a spot in O$car’$ corner proved to be too good of an opportunity for the trainer to reject.
According to Roach, Pacquiao gave Freddie his blessings and congratulations and Freddie will be heading to Puerto Rico in early March to give Oscar his undivided attention. Roach’s assistant, Justin Fortune will take over for Roach in directing Pacquiao in his scheduled fight with Injin Chi on April 28, Israel Marquez, who has a tough defense of his junior featherweight title against Rafael Marquez on March 3, and Peter Manfredo Jr., who probably needs Roach the most, going against super middleweight king Joe Calzaghe on April 7. Roach said that he had spoken to all of the fighters and they understood the situation.
It came as no surprise here that Floyd Mayweather Sr., who had trained Oscar for his last eight fights, would be missing from De la Hoya’s corner for the fight against his son. I knew for sure around the first of the year when I called Senior and he answered with a vitriolic rant about the alleged cheapskate offer from Golden Boy. The patriarch of boxing’s most dysfunctional family gave me a rambling monologue about how he was the only one who could teach Oscar how to beat Junior, but he wasn’t going to do it for peanuts, then he ended the conversation by saying that he had nothing to say and left me alone with the dial tone.
Mayweather was offered $500,000, plus another $500,000 if Oscar won. He asked for $2 million. Roach’s terms were not disclosed.
Richard Schaefer, the CEO of Golden Boy Promotions theorized that Senior’s “…unheard of demand was a signal that he did not want to be involved,” then added, “We believe it would have created an unwanted circus atmosphere for this fight…We don’t need any distractions or negativity to pull down the sport, and we don’t need to divide father and son anymore.”
Oscar questioned whether Mayweather Sr. would be as passionate as he was about the fight:
“Ultimately my thinking was, ‘Is Mayweather Sr. going to be passionate about going for that knockout and how is he going to feel in the middle of training camp when his family calls him and asks him not to do it?’”
Let’s address these issues one by one. What was the real reason that Mayweather Sr. was replaced?
1) Money… Judging from my chat with Mayweather Sr., it was very much a factor with him. He seemed to be on some kind of truth serum that evening and appeared to be genuinely offended by the offer. We’ll know for sure after it leaks out how much Roach is getting. $2 million is probably actually less than the customary 10%, but certainly excessive in Oscar’s eyes, and considerably more than the $250,000 that Senior has been making with Oscar.
2) The unwanted circus atmosphere…That’s an understatement, particularly with Uncle Roger Mayweather manning Junior’s corner. Roger’s last HBO appearance was an interview from his jail cell, not to mention his participation and suspension over the Zab Judah riot. The Mayweather family feud is an excellent reason for replacing Senior. If the Mayweather’s were simply competing as family members have in other sports, that would be on thing, but as it is, who needs the aggravation?
3) Dividing father and son…Schaefer said, “I know Floyd Sr. He’s a great trainer and, even more so, he’s a good man. I hope Floyd Jr. will reach out to him and realize what a good man he is.”
I’m almost speechless on that one. But I have to admit that is sounds more politically correct than saying that Senior was greedy and his presence would bring “distractions and negativity to bring down the sport.”
Although I know that many are appalled at the idea of a father training a fighter to defeat his son, I’m not at all shocked. The Bowdens in football, the Bonds in baseball, and the Williams sisters in tennis never had this problem. This was not a factor in his dismissal.
4) Senior’s passion for the knockout… It’s a good question and I can see both sides. When the Mayweather Jr. fight became a hot topic around the time of De La Hoya’s fight with Ricardo Mayorga last May, Senior was saying that he could not be in Oscar’s corner against Little Floyd. After a few months and a subsequent episode of The Family Feud, Senior was ready to come on board, albeit for the “bargain” price of $2 million. All of this is just part of this dysfunctional Mayweather family thing. Senior feels he’s the best at what he does and that he holds the key to defeating Junior, so he’s worth the money. If he’s right he probably is worth it, but his demands priced him out of it.
On the other side of the argument, you can’t blame Oscar for questioning Senior’s loyalty, and that is the bottom line. During the press conference, Oscar made a telling comment.
“I have a call in to Floyd Sr. to explain to him the whole situation and why I took this position,” Oscar said.
While Oscar said that Floyd had already been told, he apparently hadn’t spoken personally to him, and evidently couldn’t trust him with the explanation prior to the announcement. The media alert for the International media conference call wasn’t even sent out until 7:30 EST on Monday evening.
5) A factor not mentioned that I’ll bring up myself… May 5 will be one of those rare occasions that boxing has a chance to capture new fans or regain some old ones, simply by putting on a great show that is equal to the hype that precedes it. The casual, everyday sports fan may come away impressed and this one event could mean everything to the future of the sport. Oscar and Floyd Jr. have an opportunity to act as ambassadors for the sport, and if they and their people handle it properly it could mean future sponsors and network coverage. So in that respect, Senior would be one Mayweather too many, taking the eyes of the casual fan off the event to focus on the sideshow.
THIS WEEKEND – IT’S SHOWTIME!
This Friday at 11 p.m. ET/PT, ShoBox features two exciting undefeated prospects, James Kirkland, 17-0 (15), and Timothy Bradley, 17-0 (10). Kirkland takes on Billy Lyell, 14-3 (2), in a 10 round junior middleweight bout in the main event. It probably won’t go past four rounds, because Kirkland never has in his career. The 22 year old southpaw has a world of potential and is a Grade A power puncher. I’ve seen him in action and he’s simply pure brute, and he’s not just a headhunter. Kirkland has never been seriously tested and he won’t be by Lyell either.
Bradley faces Manuel Garnica, 22-6 (12) in an eight round junior welterweight scrap. In December on ShoBox Bradley defeated former title contender Jaime Rangel by technical decision after an accidental clash of heads, 79-73 on all cards. Garnica lost a disputed 10 round split decision to ranked contender Juan Lazcano in October, and in August won a 12 round unanimous decision over former titlist Carlos Maussa. He should provide Bradley with his toughest test to date.
On Saturday night at 9 p.m. ET/PT, Showtime Championship Boxing features a fan friendly doubleheader with two exciting title matches. In the opener, IBF lightweight titlist Jesus Chavez, 42-3 (29), returns after almost 17 months of inactivity to face interim champ Julio Diaz, 33-3 (24). (Yes, we have champs, interim champs, champs in recess, and a champion emeritus, plus bouts to determine a #1 mandatory contender. I wouldn’t be surprised if one of the sanctioning bodies didn’t try to extract a fee from Joe Louis for being Heaven’s Champ.)
The show is being held in Kissimmee, Florida at the Silver Spurs Arena. It was originally scheduled to be held in Miami as part of the Super Bowl weekend festivities but had to be moved because, (I hope you’re sitting down for this one), the Miami Arena gave Don King a check for $500,000 that bounced.
I’m picking Diaz because: 1) In Chavez’ last fight he won the title from Leavander Johnson who tragically died five days later from a brain injury. I question if Chavez will be able to rebound psychologically. 2) Diaz is 27 to Chavez’ 34 years of age. 3) Diaz is a natural lightweight and this will only be Chavez’ second fight in that division after moving up from 130.
A world class main event features the rugged WBC light heavyweight titlist Tomasz Adamek, 31-0 (27), against “Bad” Chad Dawson, 23-0 (15). Adamek won a brutal rematch with a majority decision over Paul Briggs last October. (He also won their first fight, a 2005 Fight of the Year candidate by MD.)
Dawson last fought in June when he defeated perennial contender Eric Harding by unanimous decision. There is no doubt here that Dawson is destined to become a champion. At 24 and still growing, we might even find him as a heavyweight contender some day. He’s a 6’2” bona-fide contender with good punching power and boxing skills. My only question is whether he’s ready to take on a brawler like Adamek who seems to relish in taking punishment and coming back for more.
But I’m going to pick Dawson to win because Adamek, at 30, is coming off the recent war with Briggs and I have to question whether he will be at his best, both mentally and physically.
Coming full circle in our story, Dawson may have another advantage – his new trainer is Floyd Mayweather Sr., who truly is one of the best in the game, as he would tell you himself. Senior replaces Dan Birmingham, who Dawson felt was giving priority to Winky Wright and Jeff Lacy. Dawson said that he wanted full attention and he’ll get that from Mayweather.
Everyday sports fans call this Super Bowl Weekend. For boxing fans, it’s a Showtime weekend.
