By Jake Donovan

Floyd Mayweather Jr. has managed to remain unbeaten through 18 years as a pro, finding ways to conquer—and at times, humiliate—his opposition. The reigning welterweight and super welterweight king was once again successful in doing so in his latest battle, one that further exposed the declining credibility of the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

One of the budget items for the monthly agenda held by the commission was for Mayweather to appear before the panel during Tuesday’s session to explain incidents captured on camera during Showtime’s All Access reality series to help drum up interest for his rematch with Marcos Maidana.

Events that drew the concern of the Nevada State Athletic Commission include: the ongoings of ‘The Doghouse’, which—as noted in Showtime’s All Access and past sessions of 24/7 series dedicated to Mayweather’s previous HBO PPV appearances—is infamous for its ‘fight ‘till you drop’ sparring sessions where fighters are allegedly required to go at it without the benefit of a rest period at Mayweather’s gym in Las Vegas; unsanctioned gambling occurring in said gym space; and the recreational use of marijuana in Mayweather’s presence, even though not used by the fighter himself. 

Mayweather’s portion of Tuesday’s monthly agenda hearing lasted roughly 25 minutes, dominating the boxing-related matters of the session. He and his team—which included Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe, and attorney Shane Emerick—answered all questions, while throwing a slew of people under the bus in the process.

The majority of responses offered by Mayweather and his handlers suggested that the events witnessed on All Access episodes dedicated to promoting his fights—and 24/7 before that—were staged for the sake of sensationalism.

One of the scenes in the series depicted women smoking marijuana in Mayweather’s presence, while the fighter seemingly encouraged the behavior. The response was one of many that calls into question the authenticity of anything seen on any reality show.

“It was a prop provided,” Ellerbe stated. “He would not risk failing a drug test for second hand smoke. He does not partake in drugs and alcoholism.”

Nor does he participate in unsanctioned gambling, despite the video evidence of bets being placed in his gym.

Once again, the magic of cinema.

“Absolutely not,” Emerick vigorously stated when questioned by Commissioner Skip Brady—who earlier remarked at how well the Mayweather Boxing Gym is run, though noting that his remarks would likely draw scrutiny—of the suggestion of gambling taking place in the gym. “That was staged for reality television.”

The biggest concern was the suggested uninterrupted sparring sessions. Both HBO and Showtime have Mayweather and team members on camera revealing the unofficial rules of The Doghouse, that fighters wanting to live in his boxing presence must fight to the finish. 

The latest event caught on camera involved a reported 31-minute session between Hasim Rahman Jr.—a cruiserweight and the son of the former heavyweight champion Hasim Rahman Sr.—and Donovan Cameron, an amateur boxer from England who campaigns in the light middleweight division. 

Both fighters bragged of the session, which came about after Cameron administered a serious beating to Sharif Rahman, Hasim Jr's younger - and much smaller - brother. 

Questions raised by the panel included whether the safety of the fighters was taken into consideration given both the reported length of the session and what appeared to be a massive difference in weight.

Mayweather and his team responded that what they saw was not actually what took place; that there were “three or four rest periods” during the 31-minute session, and that “Rahman Jr. was 200 lb. and Cameron around 185 lb.” at the time they sparred.

Separate interviews with other news outlets contradict such claims. 

"He was much bigger than me," Cameron

revealed on a recent segment

of

Dontae's Boxing Nation

when asked of the session,. "He weighed 200-something pounds; I fight at 154. On the day of, I was about 165 lb." 

Rahman Jr. also confirmed to Elie Seckbach—owner of ESNewsReporting.com—that the session

went uninterrupted for 31 minutes.

"Floyd made us go no bell," Rahman Jr. said of the session when interviewed during wight week prior to Mayweather's win over Maidana. "We went until somebody quit."

Both fighters were cordial and respectful of one another afterward, even joking about the extended sparring match, in which Rahmam Jr. "won" to avenge the in-ring beating administered to his brother.

"Injuries, injuries, injuries," Cameron stated, suggesting an injured right hand forced him to stop, and not the punishment dished out by Rahman Jr. "Hopefully I can put some weight on and we can go for real."

Rahman Jr. laughed off the suggestion, instead offering praise for their efforts.

"Either way, it was two warriors going at it for 31 minutes."

Despite evidence to the contrary, the panel seemed to buy Mayweather's story, even noting the fighter/promoter’s penchant for drawing attention to himself through controversy for the sake of selling his events.

“You can see our concerns by your causing controversy to draw attention to your events,” the panel noted. “In the future, it would be good on the side if Leonard if you want to inform the commission on the side, 'Hey there is going to be controversy, this is what you are going to see.”

Still, what was deemed acceptable—relatively speaking—as a fighter doesn’t quite cut it as a promoter.

“We granted you a promoter’s license just last month (in August),” Commissioner Skip Avasino pointed out to Mayweather towards the end of the session. “That license elevates your responsibility, as a promoter. We want to make sure you understand our concerns. We have an obligation to address those concerns.”

Even in noting at the start of the meeting that the questions asked weren’t part of a disciplinary hearing but rather means to provide clarification on several incidents, it becomes the latest in a growing stretch where Mayweather has been forced to explain his comments and actions.

The fighter was grilled during Fight Week leading up his September 13 rematch win over Marcos Maidana for remarks made surrounding Ray Rice of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens.

Rice was initially given a two-game suspension stemming from his widely publicized domestic violence incident where he punched and knocked out his wife, Janay Palmer in an elevator in Atlantic City earlier in the year. When video footage of the incident leaked and went viral, the NFL—which the players’ union is suggesting already had full knowledge—upgraded the punishment to an indefinite suspension.

When asked of the incident, Mayweather—who had previously served a two-month prison stint in 2012 as per the terms of a plea bargain stemming for domestic violence charges—drew harsh criticism for his stance on the subject, believing the NFL was wrong for not sticking to its original punishment.

“I think there’s a lot worse things that go on in other people’s households,” Mayweather told a group of reporters during Fight Week. “It’s just not caught on video.”

Mayweather came clean the following day, offering a blanket apology to anyone offended while claiming the remarks came while having never personally viewed the video exposing the incident.

Barely two weeks later, he found himself on the defensive and forced to apologize. In doing so, he now calls into question the credibility of several entities—including the Nevada commission, Showtime, and even himself.

Mayweather was prepared for battle on Tuesday, though perhaps the biggest surprise was his being accompanied by Ellerbe. Both were required to be at the hearing, given their roles in Mayweather Promotions – Mayweather serves as President, Ellerbe as its CEO. However, their appearance together comes in stark contrast to the fighter’s revelation last week that Ellerbe is potentially on his way out as the two no longer see eye to eye on several key matters.

“Leonard, I think we're just getting to a point where we're outgrowing each other. I think I just see things my way and I think he sees things in another way,” Mayweather said, in an interview with FightHype.com founder/Editor-In-Chief Ben Thompson. "There's just a lot of other things within our team that's just not right. Leonard wasn't in my corner, so, you know, it's not any hard feelings.

“It's just people outgrow one another. I'm not mad at him. There's no hard feeling like I hate the guy; not at all. No hard feelings whatsoever. People just outgrow one another, just like when people get a divorce. They're no longer on the same page mentally."

Wherever their relationship resides, the two were forced to be on the same page during Tuesday’s hearing. In doing so and answering all of the questions, they rallied the Nevada commission on its side in the process.

“We appreciate you being here, Mr. Mayweather,” noted Commissioner Avasino. “You acquitted yourself well… this a.m.”

Showtime declined comment when asked of Mayweather’s remarks and the validity of its series.

 

Jake Donovan is the Managing Editor of BoxingScene.com, as well as the Records Keeper for the Transnational Boxing Ratings Board and a member of Boxing Writers Association of America. Twitter: @JakeNDaBox