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Photo By William Trillo
Los Angeles – For all you Floyd Mayweather, Jr. haters out there, you best just keep scrolling down the page. The best pound4pound fighter in the world was portrayed as the bad guy in HBO’s Mayweather/De la Hoya 24/7 in advance of his May mega-fight and then was subsequently ripped for boxing more like a business man than a fighter once he got in the ring that night. But Floyd got the last laugh as he rode off into the sunset (and retirement) with about $ 20 million or so in his back pocket, thanks to Oscar, Mark Taffet and the rest of the Golden Boy/HBO mafia. He has his big crib in Vegas, the Bentley, a new boxing club, his music company and his kids to spend time with; not a bad life for a 30 year old kid out of the despair that is Grand Rapids, MI. His well-documented brittle hands could finally be rested back to health with no more wars on the horizon. He retired as certain Hall of Famer, but not the best ever and that’s more about the level of competition he faced rather than his talent.
But on the way to the haven of retirement, the slings and arrows started to rain down. After Miguel Cotto’s defeat of Zab Judah at Madison Square Garden in June, Bob Arum was asked if Pretty Boy Floyd was a possible match for Cotto later on in the year. The Top Rank CEO smirked as he responded, “he (Floyd) just made $20 million, let him spend that money and then we can talk,” in reference to Floyd’s supposed extravagant lifestyle. Ouch. Critics started questioning Floyd’s status on the list of great fighters because of the way he fought De la Hoya and the thin margin of victory in the May matchup. I met Floyd a couple years ago at a small press luncheon in Beverly Hills before the Arturo Gatti fight and came away with the impression that he was a world class athlete who was a very proud man. Can he get in your face? Of course, but when you back up your words with actions, it ain’t bragging, baby. Considering I’m a born and raised New Yorker (the Bronx, thank you), I actually liked Floyd’s style, he’s quick witted and has a sense of humor, we’ve joked about his love of basketball and I asked if he had an interest in the Lakers’ point guard role. I came away from the lunch so impressed that I was compelled to get on a plane to Atlantic City (no one’s list of favorite vacations places). I watched him dismantle Gatti inside of six rounds (as he promised), one of his virtuoso performances and I was probably the only white guy rooting for him in Boardwalk Hall that night. Knowing how prideful he is, I’m sure he was hurt by the talk that diminished his De la Hoya triumph that had millions and millions of people watching, a match that had more pressure than his 37 prior matched combined.
But you know that story. Here’s one you may not know and Floyd being Floyd, he probably wouldn’t publicize it.
I’m a donor to a Las Vegas charity called The Caring Place (www.thecaringplacenv.org), it’s a foundation that provides support services for those families touched by cancer in southern Nevada. It’s a very worthy cause for a growing metropolis like Las Vegas and was started by Showtime’s Al Bernstein and his wife Connie. Connie was stricken with cancer a few years ago and came up with the Caring Place concept, modeling it after a facility they visited during her recovery called the Gathering Place in Cleveland, OH. Last year, Al had the good folks at ESPN Radio 920 Las Vegas donate 24 hours of airtime to help with the fund raising and the Maloof family generously allowed the Palms to be the host. I am proud to say that I co-hosted the first ever hour with Al and as the second year came on line, I spoke with Al about the plans for year two, “it’s going to be even bigger than last year, and we’ve secured Floyd Mayweather, Jr. to host an hour.”
Huh? THAT Floyd Mayweather, Jr.? The BAD GUY??
After a number of conversations with Leonard Ellerbe, the man that never seems to leave Floyd’s side, Mayweather agreed to come on and host an hour with Al and a listener who bid $1600 for the right to ask Floyd questions. I was hosting the hour directly before Floyd’s, so I stuck around very intrigued to see how it would go down. The champ strolled in carrying his daughter and a surprisingly small entourage (I guess those retired fighters can’t have too big of a crew) and sat down at the set. For someone that’s been portrayed as a bad guy most of his adult life, it certainly wasn’t the same Floyd that put on the radio headphones. He was truly uncomfortable talking about himself and his accomplishments, deferring to the charity and asking callers to call in “for this great cause.” When a raffle was announced with the prize being a dinner at a local restaurant, Floyd offered to join the winners for the dinner to help lure more participants. A crowd grew in the Lounge (the location of the radiothon) as word got out Floyd was holding court and when the hour ended, he stayed and signed every autograph and took every photo opportunity until everyone was satisfied. Oh by the way, he made a minor announcement about coming out of retirement to fight Ricky Hatton in December. Will Pretty Boy make it 39-0 against the Hit Man? Based on Hatton’s last three bouts, I’m thinking he’s not such a live underdog, because Floyd ain’t a past-his-prime Kostya Tszyu. I think Floyd’s a little pissed at Ricky for copying his sombrero-wearing entrance before Hatton’s last fight against Jose Luis Castillo and wants a piece of him for that. But I’m leaving the analysis for later on down the line because that’s not the point of this piece; next time Floyd Mayweather’s image pops up on the screen perhaps you’ll look at him in a different light, he’s earned that respect in my eyes. Say good night to the bad guy. |
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