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Mayweather Fallout Continues - Reshuffling The Stars (Dope Article)
Floyd Mayweather’s retirement last week left behind a cross between a ripple and a void, affecting everyone’s list of who’s the best in the sport, shuffling the plans and/or pecking order of stars like Oscar De La Hoya and Kelly Pavlik and shifting the sands in boxing’s top division, the welterweights (147 lbs). And that’s just for starters! And Mayweather’s retirement may not even be real!
Absent for a week because of personal business, let’s play catch-up with the fallout.
Reality. OK, so I’m now operating under the belief that Mayweather’s retirement will stick at least for a while. There are several indicators. One, he relinquished his Ring magazine welterweight belt. Two, it increasingly appears there is no chance of Mayweather-De La Hoya II happening in September. If, as some (including myself) speculated, Mayweather might have been trying to drive up his asking price by walking away from negotiations, De La Hoya hasn’t bit. He immediately began making other plans. Theoretically, De La Hoya could just be playing the same game. His September dance card is still open. But nobody’s talking like that fight is anything other than dead. Nobody.
Mayweather’s motive is more inscrutable. The possibilities include: A. He’s simply lost the passion for the sport, as he said. B. He’s the kind of egomaniac who, seeing that this fight wouldn’t be as big as the first, doesn’t want to take another step down the profile or pay pegs. C. He wanted to stick it to De La Hoya, a long-time rival he got sick of chasing, beat, and now would like to humiliate. (He also screwed over his dad, who was training De La Hoya for revenge, and his uncle Roger, who turned down money to train Steve Forbes against De La Hoya at his nephew’s request; I suspect the latter screwing was not so deliberate, but not much less hurtful.) D. He’s convinced a sudden reemergence post-retirement will make him even bigger. E. All of the above. F. Other. I think the only one we can rule out for the time being is that it was a negotiating ploy to get more cash for Mayweather-De La Hoya II. My current belief also includes a conviction that one way or another, Mayweather will not stay retired. I expect him to come back. And I’ll get into why in a minute.
Legacy. I think Mayweather’s a borderline top-50 all-time great, although Dan Rafael of ESPN would put him as high as the top 20 or even top 10 and boxing historian Bert Sugar once said he didn’t crack the top 100. Everyone agrees except him and a few slavish fans that he’s nowhere near the best ever. I examined this in-depth before here. The gist of it is, he fought some good fighters, won every time in a number of weight classes, had almost superhuman talent and skill but didn’t fight some of the best of his time around his weight, most notably future potential Hall of Famers like Shane Mosley, Kostya Tszyu and Joel Casamayor and dangerous challengers like Acelino Freitas and Miguel Cotto. Fighting and beating those five, or even fighting them all and losing a couple, would have greatly enhanced his “all time great” claim. It’s not too late to fight Cotto and Mosley — although beating Mosley at age 36 is less of a big deal — but what are the odds he will? Again, we’ll return to that one in a sec.
De La Hoya. After a week or so of fussing, De La Hoya now appears set on his own fight plan. That is: He will skip his September date, and make a December bout his farewell. His statements have strongly indicated he’d like to fight Cotto, should Cotto beat Antonio Margarito July 26 in a sure-fire war. He also has not ruled out Filipino star Manny Pacquiao, who makes his debut this month at lightweight (135 lbs). In trying to fill his September date before giving up, he also reportedly reached out to the U.K.’s wildly popular Ricky Hatton, the boss at junior welterweight; Sergio Mora, the first graduate of “The Contender” TV show to pick up a world title belt (junior middleweight, 154 lbs.); and Winky Wright, a floundering former top-10 pound-for-pound great who is currently a middleweight (160 lbs.) but not far removed from his days at junior middle. Hatton turned it down because, he said, he wasn’t ready, but presumably it’s because he knows he’d be no good fighting at 150 lbs. and doesn’t want to cash in all at once if he takes a thumping. Wright definitely wanted it. Mora wanted it too, but got real busy real quick with a variety of obligations, only one of which was his own choosing, and as such probably wasn’t going to be available.
If De La Hoya takes Cotto in his finale, he is a brave, brave man. If he takes Pacquiao, he’ll be beating up a tiny little fellow who might trouble him with speed but little else. Either are big-money fights. Presumably, should Cotto beat Margarito and De La Hoya, Cotto will have become a household name by then. I wouldn’t be surprised if that sequence of events would be enough to pull Mayweather out of retirement to finally fight Cotto. By that time, Mayweather may be finding money is easier to make as a boxer than as a retired boxer, although I wouldn’t be surprised if Mayweather-Cotto never happens. If we’ve learned anything from the recent travails — or alleged travails, anyhow — of financially troubled ex-stars like Evander Holyfield and Thomas Hearns, it’s that boxers who spend money like it’s nothing often end up with very little in the end. Mayweather, for all his bragging about being a smart businessman, could find himself in the exact same place as those who went before him if he doesn’t watch out.
Leftovers. If De La Hoya doesn’t fight Pacquiao, that leaves the Pacman with some good options, assuming he beats David Diaz in his next fight. He can stay at lightweight, where he could make compelling fights with any number of boxers in one of the best divisions in boxing. He should give a rematch to Juan Manuel Marquez, but almost certainly won’t. Edwin Valero, the cult-fave 130-pound punching machine, is finally licensed to fight in the United States, and Pacquiao’s promoter, Bob Arum, has talked anew of the two meeting. Another option is to move up to 140 lbs. and fight Hatton. Given that those two have the world’s two most rabid fan bases in their respective countries, that’s nothing but a big-money bout when and if it happens, no matter where it happens. In the meantime, though, Hatton is sticking to his plan to take on his nearest division rival, tricky Paulie Malignaggi — and Hatton offered to maybe rumble with De La Hoya next summer, if for some reason De La Hoya revokes his retirement pledge.
Mora has all kinds of minefields through which he must weave. He has a rematch clause with the guy he took the belt from, Vernon Forrest; a mandatory challenger who will soon come knocking; and hopes for a pay-per-view date with Mosley. I don’t blame Forrest for wanting a rematch — on the undercard that same night Mora beat Forrest, welterweight Paul Williams avenged his loss to Carlos Quintana, and his rep was right back where it was before the loss. Wright is right back where he was before, too — getting older, with no fights in the works, although we’ll return to the middleweights momentarily.
Pound-for-pound. Some have ascended Pacquiao to the top spot among the best active boxers on the planet, now that Mayweather’s quit. I’ve got super middleweight (168 lbs.)/light heavyweight (175 lbs.) Ring champ Joe Calzaghe in the #1 spot, but only for now. If Pacquiao beats Diaz as expected, unless it’s a disputed win, I will vault him over Calzaghe, as I said I would think about doing. Everyone else moves up one spot, making room for lil Ivan Calderon (108 lbs.) in the top 10 because he’s been more active and impressive in his recent wins than some of the other potential candidates like Hatton, Wright or Mosley. Super middleweight Jermain Taylor cracks back into my top 20.
Absent for a week because of personal business, let’s play catch-up with the fallout.
Reality. OK, so I’m now operating under the belief that Mayweather’s retirement will stick at least for a while. There are several indicators. One, he relinquished his Ring magazine welterweight belt. Two, it increasingly appears there is no chance of Mayweather-De La Hoya II happening in September. If, as some (including myself) speculated, Mayweather might have been trying to drive up his asking price by walking away from negotiations, De La Hoya hasn’t bit. He immediately began making other plans. Theoretically, De La Hoya could just be playing the same game. His September dance card is still open. But nobody’s talking like that fight is anything other than dead. Nobody.
Mayweather’s motive is more inscrutable. The possibilities include: A. He’s simply lost the passion for the sport, as he said. B. He’s the kind of egomaniac who, seeing that this fight wouldn’t be as big as the first, doesn’t want to take another step down the profile or pay pegs. C. He wanted to stick it to De La Hoya, a long-time rival he got sick of chasing, beat, and now would like to humiliate. (He also screwed over his dad, who was training De La Hoya for revenge, and his uncle Roger, who turned down money to train Steve Forbes against De La Hoya at his nephew’s request; I suspect the latter screwing was not so deliberate, but not much less hurtful.) D. He’s convinced a sudden reemergence post-retirement will make him even bigger. E. All of the above. F. Other. I think the only one we can rule out for the time being is that it was a negotiating ploy to get more cash for Mayweather-De La Hoya II. My current belief also includes a conviction that one way or another, Mayweather will not stay retired. I expect him to come back. And I’ll get into why in a minute.
Legacy. I think Mayweather’s a borderline top-50 all-time great, although Dan Rafael of ESPN would put him as high as the top 20 or even top 10 and boxing historian Bert Sugar once said he didn’t crack the top 100. Everyone agrees except him and a few slavish fans that he’s nowhere near the best ever. I examined this in-depth before here. The gist of it is, he fought some good fighters, won every time in a number of weight classes, had almost superhuman talent and skill but didn’t fight some of the best of his time around his weight, most notably future potential Hall of Famers like Shane Mosley, Kostya Tszyu and Joel Casamayor and dangerous challengers like Acelino Freitas and Miguel Cotto. Fighting and beating those five, or even fighting them all and losing a couple, would have greatly enhanced his “all time great” claim. It’s not too late to fight Cotto and Mosley — although beating Mosley at age 36 is less of a big deal — but what are the odds he will? Again, we’ll return to that one in a sec.
De La Hoya. After a week or so of fussing, De La Hoya now appears set on his own fight plan. That is: He will skip his September date, and make a December bout his farewell. His statements have strongly indicated he’d like to fight Cotto, should Cotto beat Antonio Margarito July 26 in a sure-fire war. He also has not ruled out Filipino star Manny Pacquiao, who makes his debut this month at lightweight (135 lbs). In trying to fill his September date before giving up, he also reportedly reached out to the U.K.’s wildly popular Ricky Hatton, the boss at junior welterweight; Sergio Mora, the first graduate of “The Contender” TV show to pick up a world title belt (junior middleweight, 154 lbs.); and Winky Wright, a floundering former top-10 pound-for-pound great who is currently a middleweight (160 lbs.) but not far removed from his days at junior middle. Hatton turned it down because, he said, he wasn’t ready, but presumably it’s because he knows he’d be no good fighting at 150 lbs. and doesn’t want to cash in all at once if he takes a thumping. Wright definitely wanted it. Mora wanted it too, but got real busy real quick with a variety of obligations, only one of which was his own choosing, and as such probably wasn’t going to be available.
If De La Hoya takes Cotto in his finale, he is a brave, brave man. If he takes Pacquiao, he’ll be beating up a tiny little fellow who might trouble him with speed but little else. Either are big-money fights. Presumably, should Cotto beat Margarito and De La Hoya, Cotto will have become a household name by then. I wouldn’t be surprised if that sequence of events would be enough to pull Mayweather out of retirement to finally fight Cotto. By that time, Mayweather may be finding money is easier to make as a boxer than as a retired boxer, although I wouldn’t be surprised if Mayweather-Cotto never happens. If we’ve learned anything from the recent travails — or alleged travails, anyhow — of financially troubled ex-stars like Evander Holyfield and Thomas Hearns, it’s that boxers who spend money like it’s nothing often end up with very little in the end. Mayweather, for all his bragging about being a smart businessman, could find himself in the exact same place as those who went before him if he doesn’t watch out.
Leftovers. If De La Hoya doesn’t fight Pacquiao, that leaves the Pacman with some good options, assuming he beats David Diaz in his next fight. He can stay at lightweight, where he could make compelling fights with any number of boxers in one of the best divisions in boxing. He should give a rematch to Juan Manuel Marquez, but almost certainly won’t. Edwin Valero, the cult-fave 130-pound punching machine, is finally licensed to fight in the United States, and Pacquiao’s promoter, Bob Arum, has talked anew of the two meeting. Another option is to move up to 140 lbs. and fight Hatton. Given that those two have the world’s two most rabid fan bases in their respective countries, that’s nothing but a big-money bout when and if it happens, no matter where it happens. In the meantime, though, Hatton is sticking to his plan to take on his nearest division rival, tricky Paulie Malignaggi — and Hatton offered to maybe rumble with De La Hoya next summer, if for some reason De La Hoya revokes his retirement pledge.
Mora has all kinds of minefields through which he must weave. He has a rematch clause with the guy he took the belt from, Vernon Forrest; a mandatory challenger who will soon come knocking; and hopes for a pay-per-view date with Mosley. I don’t blame Forrest for wanting a rematch — on the undercard that same night Mora beat Forrest, welterweight Paul Williams avenged his loss to Carlos Quintana, and his rep was right back where it was before the loss. Wright is right back where he was before, too — getting older, with no fights in the works, although we’ll return to the middleweights momentarily.
Pound-for-pound. Some have ascended Pacquiao to the top spot among the best active boxers on the planet, now that Mayweather’s quit. I’ve got super middleweight (168 lbs.)/light heavyweight (175 lbs.) Ring champ Joe Calzaghe in the #1 spot, but only for now. If Pacquiao beats Diaz as expected, unless it’s a disputed win, I will vault him over Calzaghe, as I said I would think about doing. Everyone else moves up one spot, making room for lil Ivan Calderon (108 lbs.) in the top 10 because he’s been more active and impressive in his recent wins than some of the other potential candidates like Hatton, Wright or Mosley. Super middleweight Jermain Taylor cracks back into my top 20.
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