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At the press conference for Miguel Cotto's upcoming April 12 fight, the name of the man who has cast an intimidating shadow over the welterweight champion's career would not go away.
Floyd "Money" Mayweather is the pound for pound champion of the world and could well be one of the smartest men in boxing.
The very mention of Mayweather's name incites impassioned debate among even casual boxing fans. For a few he is an unrivalled king of boxing as quick with his mouth as he is with his hands. But even more boxing fans regard the man as an arrogant, trash talking pretender.
That is of course the genius of Floyd. He is a boxer that intimately understands not the just the physical fundamentals of the game but the psychological.
Boxing is at its best when fight fans are engrossed in the narrative of the contest and the best storylines always have an intriguing villain. Mayweather understands the need for good guys and bad guys and he has been more than willing to don the black hat throughout his career. It is a decision that has enabled him to reach the pinnacle of the sport and earn millions of dollars every time he steps into the ring.
As Mayweather said in an ESPN interview, "This is America, we're built on controversy and money and negativity."
These are the three catchwords that define Mayweather's career; they are the words in which he cloaks himself in the lead up to every contest. In the super fight against Ricky Hatton, Mayweather's hyperbolic statements and ostentatious displays of wealth were in stark contrast to the monosyllabic restraint of the English champion.
Mayweather's antics infuriated Hatton supporters and ensured a huge audience for the mouth watering match-up, which the American boxer won handily. Mayweather delights in the role of bad guy. Whenever promoting a fight he rarely let's his mask slip; to the point where he has become a trash talking cliche to most fight fans, his true personality known only to those close to him.
Many have accused Mayweather of ducking Miguel Cotto, not the least Cotto himself in the press conference for his upcoming fight against contender Alfonso Gomez.
"He [Mayweather] runs from the really good boxers and chases other things. I don't know how people in boxing support him as being first in the pound-for-pound [rankings]," said Cotto in response to the persistent Mayweather question.
Cotto's statement of course ignores Mayweather's unblemished record which features such distinguished scalps as the late Diego Corrales, Jose Luis Castillo, Zab Judah, Oscar de la Hoya and the previously undefeated Ricky Hatton.
Mayweather has reached the point of his career where the constant need to prove his ring credentials is redundant. Widely acknowledged as the best pound for pound boxer in the world, even critics grudgingly admit his boxing skill.
Cotto, on the other hand, is a fighter with a flaming desire to prove his talent to the world. As such he is willing to step into the ring with any fighter and at the moment there is none bigger than Floyd Mayweather. A victory over the world's best would cement Cotto's status.
There is no such incentive for Mayweather. If he wins, he remains the best fighter in the world and nothing changes but if he suffers defeat his reputation takes a battering, as probably does his health. Boxing is unfortunately littered with tragic casualties, former champions who fought on beyond their prime, goaded by foolish pride and the ceaseless demands of fans and hanger-ons.
The respect of fight fans is a possible motivation but Mayweather's career to date suggest he is sufficiently self assured to care little about the opinions strangers hold of him.
The only reason left for Mayweather to take the fight would be a big pay day and with notorious promoter Bob Arum behind Cotto's career that seems difficult to achieve.
Until then boxing fans around the world will have to wait with baited breath for the baddest gunslinger in town to saddle up and don the black hat again.
Floyd "Money" Mayweather is the pound for pound champion of the world and could well be one of the smartest men in boxing.
The very mention of Mayweather's name incites impassioned debate among even casual boxing fans. For a few he is an unrivalled king of boxing as quick with his mouth as he is with his hands. But even more boxing fans regard the man as an arrogant, trash talking pretender.
That is of course the genius of Floyd. He is a boxer that intimately understands not the just the physical fundamentals of the game but the psychological.
Boxing is at its best when fight fans are engrossed in the narrative of the contest and the best storylines always have an intriguing villain. Mayweather understands the need for good guys and bad guys and he has been more than willing to don the black hat throughout his career. It is a decision that has enabled him to reach the pinnacle of the sport and earn millions of dollars every time he steps into the ring.
As Mayweather said in an ESPN interview, "This is America, we're built on controversy and money and negativity."
These are the three catchwords that define Mayweather's career; they are the words in which he cloaks himself in the lead up to every contest. In the super fight against Ricky Hatton, Mayweather's hyperbolic statements and ostentatious displays of wealth were in stark contrast to the monosyllabic restraint of the English champion.
Mayweather's antics infuriated Hatton supporters and ensured a huge audience for the mouth watering match-up, which the American boxer won handily. Mayweather delights in the role of bad guy. Whenever promoting a fight he rarely let's his mask slip; to the point where he has become a trash talking cliche to most fight fans, his true personality known only to those close to him.
Many have accused Mayweather of ducking Miguel Cotto, not the least Cotto himself in the press conference for his upcoming fight against contender Alfonso Gomez.
"He [Mayweather] runs from the really good boxers and chases other things. I don't know how people in boxing support him as being first in the pound-for-pound [rankings]," said Cotto in response to the persistent Mayweather question.
Cotto's statement of course ignores Mayweather's unblemished record which features such distinguished scalps as the late Diego Corrales, Jose Luis Castillo, Zab Judah, Oscar de la Hoya and the previously undefeated Ricky Hatton.
Mayweather has reached the point of his career where the constant need to prove his ring credentials is redundant. Widely acknowledged as the best pound for pound boxer in the world, even critics grudgingly admit his boxing skill.
Cotto, on the other hand, is a fighter with a flaming desire to prove his talent to the world. As such he is willing to step into the ring with any fighter and at the moment there is none bigger than Floyd Mayweather. A victory over the world's best would cement Cotto's status.
There is no such incentive for Mayweather. If he wins, he remains the best fighter in the world and nothing changes but if he suffers defeat his reputation takes a battering, as probably does his health. Boxing is unfortunately littered with tragic casualties, former champions who fought on beyond their prime, goaded by foolish pride and the ceaseless demands of fans and hanger-ons.
The respect of fight fans is a possible motivation but Mayweather's career to date suggest he is sufficiently self assured to care little about the opinions strangers hold of him.
The only reason left for Mayweather to take the fight would be a big pay day and with notorious promoter Bob Arum behind Cotto's career that seems difficult to achieve.
Until then boxing fans around the world will have to wait with baited breath for the baddest gunslinger in town to saddle up and don the black hat again.
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