floyd can only redeem his image by fighting pacquiao - Bert Sugar

Bert Sugar’s old school frustration towards Floyd Mayweather Jr. April 6, 1:19 AMLas Vegas Boxing ExaminerChris Robinson Previous 53 comments Subscribe Subscribe Get alerts when there is a new article from the Las Vegas Boxing Examiner. Read Examiner.com's terms of use. Email Address Include other special offers from Examiner.com Terms of Use ShareThis Bert Sugar and Floyd Mayweather Jr. (AP Photo) Moments after last Saturday’s lackluster rematch between Bernard Hopkins and Roy Jones, fans and media alike began exiting the Mandalay Bay Events Center in disbelief at what they had just witnessed. Sporting his trademark fedora with cigar in hand, infamous boxing historian Bert Sugar was no different and seemed to shake his head in dismay. Born in Washington, D.C. on June 7th, 1936, Sugar’s passion for the sport is striking and he has been a ringside fixture at boxing’s biggest events for many decades. Sugar’s pedigree speaks for itself as he has written over eighty books, primarily on boxing, and was elected to the International Boxing Hall of Fame in January 2005. The Boston Globe also named Sugar 'one of the foremost historians alive'. With Hopkins-Jones II now thankfully in the past the next big fight that the outspoken Sugar will have his eyes on in the May 1st clash between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Shane Mosley at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. When asked for his thoughts on the contest Sugar comes out of the gates instantly turning his attention to Floyd. “I’ve known him since he was eight years old,” Sugar claims. “He was one of the most talented little kids I ever saw. My wife was in Grand Rapids and I used to go watch him in the gym.” As Floyd began his professional ascent up boxing’s championship ladder, Sugar admits that Mayweather’s offensive abilities and counter-punching skills were second to none, even going as far as to call the fighter ‘brilliant’. Before anyone got to know about Mayweather's persona it was only his talents in the ring that we were able to recognize. As a Jr. Lightweight champion Mayweather had the look of an innocent kid with abilities that were simply outstanding. His January 2001 victory over fearsome puncher Diego ‘Chico’ Corrales could easily be looked at as one of this decade’s finest performances due to the sheer dominance and grace in which Mayweather controlled and tamed his undefeated Sacramento rival. Mayweather’s success continued as he ventured to 135 and 140 pounds but when he made the move to the welterweight division he seemed to start rubbing people the wrong way. Floyd soon found himself in the role of the villain due to a combination of his outspoken nature and simply not facing the fighters much of the public desperately wanted him to fight. Elaborating further, Sugar feels that much of it had to due with Floyd’s style inside of the ring. “I don’t think he turned them off with his bravado,” Sugar says. “He just doesn’t finish the job. He has people hurt and he can’t finish them off. The only one he did was Ricky Hatton who was overmatched to begin with and was lighter and stuck his chin out a lot. And it took him a long time to get to him.” Mayweather walked away from the sport after defeating Hatton in December of 2007 and his return to the ring was met with mixed reactions in September of last year. While Mayweather’s opponent on that night, Juan Manuel Marquez, is undeniably great he was also moving up drastically in weight. Floyd ended up weighing two pounds over the contracted weight of 144 pounds, an act which cost him $600,000, before dominating Marquez the following night over twelve-lopsided rounds. While Mayweather was in complete control against his Mexico City foe the public simply wanted to see him in against a bigger threat. Those wishes seemed to be answered when Mayweather signed on to face the still-dangerous Mosley but Sugar gives a resounding answer when asked if Floyd has started to redeem his image by facing Shane. “Only if he fights Pacquiao,” Sugar states boldly. “Right now I question whether he really wants too. He threw out bull**** proposals and said that he was the equivalent of Martin Luther King because he boldly dares. When did he become the government? When I was a kid the line was ‘Who died and made you king?’” Sugar was then asked for his thoughts on Manny Pacquiao and his run of success in recent years. While Sugar has much praise for the WBO Welterweight champion he closes out by saying that the Filipino may already be looking in other directions. And if that is the case, Sugar can’t help but have some kind of deep frustration towards Mayweather. “Pacquiao is brilliant but I don’t think he really cares if he fights Mayweather at all now. He probably will fight on without fighting Mayweather because he doesn’t’ care for Mayweather or to sign a contract anymore. Mayweather blew the biggest fighter of the year, of the decade, of the last 25 years. Floyd really pissed me off.” With that Sugar placed his cigar in his mouth and headed for the bright halls of the Mandalay Bay. What was left behind was the image of old school boxing mind who has seen just about anything you can imagine in this business. It’s obvious from the tone in his voice that Sugar would love to see a Pacquiao-Mayweather showdown but his disappointment is a telling sign that it very well may never happen.