Most boxing fans sit anxiously by a computer or their smart phone as the days tick by and another month ends and another begins, the wait? To see which opponent the pound 4 Pound King Floyd ?Money? Mayweather will chose for his may fight date. As has been the accustom with Mayweather he enjoys making the fans and media wait as to bolster his own opinion of himself and have the complete attention of the sport and every eye in it on him. There has been an almost certain uncertainty in the air the past month that Mayweather would announce his next opponent to be Britain?s Amir Khan much to dismay of the boxing public and media. I had short little conversations over twitter with Showtime Executive Stephen Espinoza in which he said without saying that the suggestion I made that most fans didn?t want to see Khan and that it was a joke matchup didn?t factor into his decision making and that not everyone felt that way as this was more about money than anything else. Espinoza is in the money making business which I completely understand I simply was questioning how much money was to be made in a fight between clearly the best fighter in the world and a guy who has no chin, has been Ko?d, knocked down or in serious trouble in his last 3 or 4 fights.
Fast forward a month later and the pound 4 pound king has decided to take to social media to let the fans choose who he should fight next. There are however a few problems with this idea:
A) There are only two choices to choose from, the fore mentioned Khan and Argentina?s Marcos Maidana who while coming off of an upset victory over the brash Adrien Broner is nowhere near Mayweather?s skill level.
B) I thought Mayweather was ?his own boss? who ?made his own decisions? and was ?dictated to by no one?, so why the sudden change in heart and philosophy?
C) Haven?t boxing fans been VERY vocal about wanting to see him fight the likes of Manny Pacquiao and Sergio Martinez? Why aren?t these two fighters? options? Why weren?t boxing fans given the opportunity to choose these opponents in the past?
You see the reasons are quiet obvious. There is literally NO ONE besides Pacquaio and Bradley at 147 that could give Mayweather a good fight and with only 4 fights left in his career he is CLEARLY about making the most money while taking the lowest risk possible. And before you the Mayweather fan jump on me for the Canelo fight let?s keep in mind that Mayweather fought Oscar De La Hoya and Miguel Cotto at 154 because he ?wanted them to be comfortable? yet makes Canelo come to 152 for something that was said on a certain website almost two years ago and could not be found anywhere but that place. While Canelo was coming off a win against boxer Austin Trout (a fight some feel he lost) he had nothing for Mayweather?s overall skill and boxing IQ, I know it was pumped as a big competitive fight but when you really got sown to looking at the matchup it went as easily as planned.
There are very few fights out there that are a risk to Mayweather?s unblemished record problem for boxing fans is the thing that makes a fighter great, his ability to take risks to be great protect Mayweather from taking such risks. That?s why you are only given two options to choose from, two fighters whose primitive skills and lack of a boxing IQ make them the type of opponents Mayweather was fighting some 15 years ago. Also the same things that qualify these two opponents in Khan and Maidana seem to be different from those in the past. Floyd Mayweather is not Adrien Broner and Floyd Mayweather is not Julio Diaz and fighters like Khan and Maidana at this point of Mayweather?s illustrious career do NOT belong in the ring with him. If this is Mayweather?s swan song why is he refusing to face such foes as Pacquiao and Martinez? Ohh that?s right, Manny doesn?t sell as many PPV?s as he does but I guess Robert Guerrero did. Pacquaio also beat his leftovers which is why he fought Marquez and Cotto before Mayweather did. And there is the tax issue, which Mayweather doesn?t want to help ?bail? Pacquaio out of. Crazy because I could have sworn that Floyd himself had some tax issues some years ago no? As far as Martinez goes he isn?t a draw, hasn?t fought on PPV and has no following which makes it obvious as to why Mayweather would list Maidana as a possible opponent. You see no matter what the skill set says or what the eye test tells you or how many belts sit in the man they call Money?s mansion in Las Vegas, all you have to do is step away from the smoke screen, listen to what he says and follow his actions and you will see that Floyd Mayweather is also the pound 4 pound king of excuses and contradictions. If a man is a threat, tear him down, make fun of him and tell people he is not on your level. If the man is easy pickings, pump him up, pump up his skills and oversell his accomplishments that way when you beat him by yet another boring unanimous decision it appears as if you just chopped down a prime Tommy Hearns. You see, this is who Floyd Mayweather the fighter is while walking around, shouting from the rooftops of buildings to anyone gullible enough to listen that he is ?The Best Ever?. Meanwhile somewhere Walker Smith, JR is sitting around a table with Henry Armstrong and Willie Pep sharing a laugh.
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