Ring is where Mayweather belongs

Found this a good read. What do yall think? Ring is where Mayweather belongs Wednesday, October 29, 2008 By David Mayo The Grand Rapids Press GRAND RAPIDS -- The full-bore effort to lure Floyd Mayweather back to boxing has not advanced beyond hot rumor yet, though even in gyms in his hometown, those who claim to keep their ears to the ground say the rumblings of a comeback are not distant. Mayweather has validated none of this talk, mind you. He remains retired, to what extent anyone who is 31, newly retired from a job with high earnings potential and watching the nation's torn economic fabric with as much interest as anyone can be. He remains retired, to what extent anyone who remains the best at his profession, desired by promoters and fans alike and recently ripped off of $7 million in jewelry during a home invasion can be. His jewelry was insured. His youth isn't. Now 327 days since his last fight, with nothing scheduled for 2009 -- yet -- and the welterweight landscape undergoing a late-year transformation, the countdown on Mayweather's career silently ticks, assuming he decides to return. He has said he won't fight again. He has said that before. His adviser, Leonard Ellerbe, said there has been no reconsideration. He, too, has said that before. Mayweather wanted a long rest after defeating Oscar De La Hoya last year. He ended up making the Ricky Hatton fight, scored a sensational 10th-round knockout on Dec. 7, 2007, contemplated a De La Hoya rematch but, in my opinion, chose to create vacation time via retirement instead. Retirement is how he got glorified ham-and-eggers to quit calling his name in postfight interviews. Retirement is how he got promoters to quit accusing him of dodging second-rate pseudo-contenders. For a while, it worked. Mayweather participated in WrestleMania. He managed a mixed martial arts team in a BET television series. He starred in a Ludacris video. None of those pays like one big night in the ring, which surely has occurred to the prematurely retired boxer who answers to the nickname "Money." The De La Hoya Empire has led the comeback cry. Stung by his 2007 loss, De La Hoya's schedule got sidetracked by an opponent's whims for one of few times in his career when Mayweather spurned the rematch. So De La Hoya will fight Dec. 6 against Manny Pacquiao, who inherited the pound-for-pound mantle Mayweather abdicated but is at a potentially overwhelming size disadvantage. Because the all-action Filipino rarely takes a backward step, gets hit often and never has fought anybody of De La Hoya's size and power, the likelihood of an injured pound-for-pound king might be greater than that of a 12-round distance fight. De La Hoya, meantime, yearns for Mayweather. During his prefight press tour, he said he heard Mayweather is broke -- not that he has any such personal insight, though it certainly is the right button to push. De La Hoya also said he intends to extend his career through 2009, after his long-stated plan to retire this year. Richard Schaefer, chief executive officer of Golden Boy Promotions, proposes Mayweather fights next year against Shane Mosley, De La Hoya, Pacquiao and/or Hatton, the latter of whom fights under the tutelage of trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr. for the first time Nov. 22, against Paulie Malinaggi. The Mosley fight never should happen. He dodged Mayweather off and on for 10 years, when the fight mattered. No one wants to see it now that it doesn't. The others all are viable, pending results of the next few weeks. If Mayweather doesn't care to fight under De La Hoya's banner again, other possibilities remain, with promoters he remembers well, even if not necessarily with the warm-and-fuzzies: Antonio Margarito, promoted by Bob Arum; and Paul Williams, promoted by Dan Goossen. Mayweather still is The Man, which doesn't matter if he really wants to stay retired. If he is sincere, woe be it for anyone to suggest he should fight again. But if this was a way to create a long-overdue vacation, it's time to get back to work.