Pretty Boy Floyd Picks His Shots and Super Bowl Teams En Route to Victory
By David P. Greisman
Floyd Mayweather, Jr. picks the New England Patriots to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, and he likes Atlanta Falcons’ quarterback Michael Vick over the Eagles’ Donovan McNabb. That’s at least what he told HBO play-by-play commentator Jim Lampley, and oh, yeah, he also won an easy eighth-round TKO over Puerto Rican Henry Bruseles in the process of prognosticating.
Such was the nature of the bout, that Mayweather, in-between peppering his opponent with quick and frequent shots to the body and head, could interact with the television crew, winking and nodding and never coming out the worse for wear. With two knockdowns in the eighth caused by effective body work and good hooks, Bruseles’s corner jumped up on the ring apron, successfully getting referee Jorge Alonso to stop the fight with five seconds remaining.
Mayweather, who moves to 33-0 with 22 knockouts, was slick from the beginning, jabbing, sticking and moving and doubling up on the left hook to easily take the first round. He stayed relaxed through the second round, picking his shots, scoring with both leads and counter punches, punctuating the round at the bell with a hard left hook. Round three saw Bruseles, now 21-3-1 (13), try to close in on the Pretty Boy, only to be punished with solid punches, his offense basically ineffective due to the sly defense of the Grand Rapids, Michigan native.
Possibly reacting to some booing from the crowd in the previous round, Mayweather tried to bring more action in the fourth by running out of the corner and missing with a lunging right, but some tactical excitement was brought about as the combatants went from the sixteen-and-a-half foot ring that seemed tiny for the heavyweights on the undercard and into a virtual phone booth, the infighting making the first true back-and-forth of the night. With his left shoulder digging into Bruseles, and his body perpendicular in the same sort of defensive positioning that James Toney uses, Mayweather was able to get the best of his foe, landing left and right hooks, as well as straight rights, the only hiatus coming when the third man in the ring warned him for pushing Bruseles with his elbow.
The close combat would continue in round five, and the small crowd at the American Airlines Arena in Miami began to let out “oh”s at each of Floyd’s crisp punches. In round six, Mayweather once again used his superior speed to his advantage in moving in and out, neutralizing any chance of Bruseles breaking through and changing the course of the fight. Even the HBO announcers seemed bored, knowledgeable that the American pound-for-pound denizen was clearly dominating. Lampley asked color commentator Roy Jones, Jr, “Steelers or Patriots?” to which the eavesdropping Mayweather turned his head and interrupted with his pick for the defending NFL champs.
Amused, Lampley went for a more direct approach thirty seconds into the eighth round, asking the former 130 and 135 pound champ about the NFC title game at the first moment the two fighters were nearby. His focus going elsewhere, Mayweather knew that it was time to put his outmatched rival away, a mercy stoppage that prevented Bruseles from another four rounds of shutout embarrassment.
In the televised undercard, Nigerian heavyweight prospect Samuel Peter (22-0 with 19 wins by KO) knocked down Cuban defector Yanqui Diaz six times in five rounds to earn a TKO victory. Diaz, who moves to 13-2 (9), was victim of a tremendous disparity in punching power, his clean punches getting little reaction from Peter. Peter’s shots, on the other hand, carried his 243 pounds at full force, knocking Diaz down once in the first, once in the second, and twice each in the fourth and fifth. Referee Brian Garry may have waited thirty seconds too long to stop the fight, causing Diaz to absorbed yet another flurry of powerful combinations from Peter before being given a respite for the night.
Both of tonight’s winners are looking forward to bigger fights with larger paychecks and the glory that comes along in the process. “I know I’m [too] strong for anybody. I fight two champions and I win, in two months,” said Peter, stating his case that he is ready for a chance at a major belt and noting that a bout with the Ukraine’s WBC champion Vitali Klitschko is who he desired as his next conquest.
Mayweather, who has been showcasing his talent for years without the fan base or pay-per-view events that would be expected to follow his achievements to date, is seeking a fight with Arturo “Thunder” Gatti should the Ultimate Blood and Guts Warrior get by veteran Jesse James Leija in a battle of bleeders next Saturday. Yet his hubris isn’t limited to the WBC junior-welterweight champion, as Pretty Boy also called out Kostya Tszyu, plus Oscar de la Hoya or Shane Mosley in interesting match-ups at welterweight.
“I’ll keep my fingers crossed. I want to fight the best out there,” Mayweather said, noting also that he would like to get in the ring three more times this year.
The showdown with Gatti is anything but certain, what with Mayweather’s well-documented legal troubles. But if that fight and other top matches fall in place, the Pretty Boy will have put himself in position to finally vault over Bernard Hopkins in the mythical pound-for-pound rankings and earn an almost certain spot in the International Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota.
