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This is just something that I don't understand. When you look at every other country it seems like they always stand behind their boxers and support them wholeheartedly, through victory and defeat, the good times and the bad times. However with Floyd, he gets treated very unfairly and doesn't receive anything like the kind of credit that he truly deserves for being in my opinion, easily the best boxer of the last 20 years and one of the very best, if not the best, of all time, he's certainly the best boxer I have had the pleasure of watching. However, rather than embracing his greatness and appreciating him while he is still around to grace the sport that we all love, when he doesn't have to, a lot of Americans just want to criticize him and unfairly paint him in a bad light. For example when rumors spread about him physically beating his ex, it got plastered all over the internet and interpreted by many as fact, when in reality, they had no idea what had happened. No pictures were ever released, and no videos or audio was released to back up the claims, yet they still painted him as being guilty. Compare that with Manny Pacquiao, who is allowed to cheat on his wife with prostitutes, dodge a $40 million drug test, not pay taxes and house illegal fugitives, without the American media holding him to account over it.
I know that Floyd paints himself as the bad guy with his "Money Mayweather" persona, but people should be able to see beyond that and identify the real Floyd. A man who always consoles his opponents after defeating them and who unlike Manny "Stipulation-Man" Pacquiao, is willing to prove that he isn't on performance enhancing drugs, and who always gives the fans their money's worth by consistently facing top level competition, when they are on top of their game, at their natural weight. When Floyd spectacularly dominated Juan Manuel Marquez, the second greatest boxer of this generation, while coming off a 21-month layoff, he got almost no credit for one of the greatest displays of boxing you will ever see. Two years after being shutout by Floyd, Marquez, despite being considered washed up and at the end of his career, completely dominated Pacquiao in their third fight, and the American media (Ring Magazine) still kept Pacquiao as the p4p#1 boxer in the world ahead of Floyd and Marquez. To say that doesn't make sense is a gross understatement. What could that possibly be based on? The only plausible explanation is that they are incredibly biased against Floyd and towards Pacquiao. Or maybe it's because Oscar De La Hoya owns it, but either way I am never buying that Magazine ever again.
One reason I think is because a lot of the Americans don't appreciate his careful, artistic boxing as much as other countries do, like the UK for example. Floyd has a huge following over here and is on record as stating that he gets more love from the UK than he does in his own country. I think that Americans like to see brawls more than boxing, which is why the UFC, and Manny Pacquiao are so popular. I just can't understand why people don't appreciate Floyd more for what he has done and continues to do for the sport. We must realise that this is a guy who doesn't have to box anymore. He is so multi-talented that he could be successful in many ways outside of the ring and with the kind of money that he has made and can command outside of the ring, he doesn't have to fight and is only continuing because he loves the sport and the fans and I think as fans we should respect that. We are all very fortunate to have come along in his era.
Overall I think people are only going to really appreciate Floyd when he is gone from the sport, and a huge void is left behind without his unmatched charisma and incredible ability to consistently dominate the best boxers out there. Mayweather is one of a kind and you won't see a guy nearly as good as him for a long, long time. There's never been a boxer who has dominated the competition like he has. He's been facing top level competition for almost 14 years and has only had one competitive fight during that time with Jose Luis Castillo. All of his other bouts have been dominant wins. It's truly amazing.
Anyway. What do you think? Why do you think that Floyd doesn't get the credit and appreciation that he deserves? I think it's partly because of his style, partly because people buy into his fake persona and partly because of fan manipulation by Bob Arum (who seems to have most of the US Boxing Media in his pocket). I understand all that. But I still find it very unfair that he is treated the way he is.
I know that Floyd paints himself as the bad guy with his "Money Mayweather" persona, but people should be able to see beyond that and identify the real Floyd. A man who always consoles his opponents after defeating them and who unlike Manny "Stipulation-Man" Pacquiao, is willing to prove that he isn't on performance enhancing drugs, and who always gives the fans their money's worth by consistently facing top level competition, when they are on top of their game, at their natural weight. When Floyd spectacularly dominated Juan Manuel Marquez, the second greatest boxer of this generation, while coming off a 21-month layoff, he got almost no credit for one of the greatest displays of boxing you will ever see. Two years after being shutout by Floyd, Marquez, despite being considered washed up and at the end of his career, completely dominated Pacquiao in their third fight, and the American media (Ring Magazine) still kept Pacquiao as the p4p#1 boxer in the world ahead of Floyd and Marquez. To say that doesn't make sense is a gross understatement. What could that possibly be based on? The only plausible explanation is that they are incredibly biased against Floyd and towards Pacquiao. Or maybe it's because Oscar De La Hoya owns it, but either way I am never buying that Magazine ever again.
One reason I think is because a lot of the Americans don't appreciate his careful, artistic boxing as much as other countries do, like the UK for example. Floyd has a huge following over here and is on record as stating that he gets more love from the UK than he does in his own country. I think that Americans like to see brawls more than boxing, which is why the UFC, and Manny Pacquiao are so popular. I just can't understand why people don't appreciate Floyd more for what he has done and continues to do for the sport. We must realise that this is a guy who doesn't have to box anymore. He is so multi-talented that he could be successful in many ways outside of the ring and with the kind of money that he has made and can command outside of the ring, he doesn't have to fight and is only continuing because he loves the sport and the fans and I think as fans we should respect that. We are all very fortunate to have come along in his era.
Overall I think people are only going to really appreciate Floyd when he is gone from the sport, and a huge void is left behind without his unmatched charisma and incredible ability to consistently dominate the best boxers out there. Mayweather is one of a kind and you won't see a guy nearly as good as him for a long, long time. There's never been a boxer who has dominated the competition like he has. He's been facing top level competition for almost 14 years and has only had one competitive fight during that time with Jose Luis Castillo. All of his other bouts have been dominant wins. It's truly amazing.
Anyway. What do you think? Why do you think that Floyd doesn't get the credit and appreciation that he deserves? I think it's partly because of his style, partly because people buy into his fake persona and partly because of fan manipulation by Bob Arum (who seems to have most of the US Boxing Media in his pocket). I understand all that. But I still find it very unfair that he is treated the way he is.
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