A good article

[Maxshayne]

IT ISN'T EASY BEING MONEY: SO WHAT'S NEXT
By Greg Rowe

Absence. What is it about being away from something that we love so much that leaves such an empty void in our hearts? What is it that makes one want to come back? A person must ask himself this on a daily basis. Some return for love, some for money, some for the attention and some simply return because they must. When it comes to boxing and its’ most celebrated and popular fighter Floyd “Money” Mayweather, it has been brought up in various media outlets that he came back for the fame or possibly because of his confirmed debt to the IRS. [Editor's note: According to the Associated Press, Mayweather broke the IRS off over $5 million dollars from the Juan Manuel Marquez purse and has now cleared up his federal tax problem]. Whatever the reason may be, most are glad he is back. For the select few that do not like Mayweather and his antics either inside or outside the ring, it was just another opportunity to take a stab at him.

Being the best at what you do is a double-edged sword for the simple reason that people either love you for your skills or they loathe you for them. Maybe it is jealousy, but for whatever reasons the “haters” seem to hate Mayweather, there is an underlying constant in that they have little, if anything, to base their arguments on.

Mayweather is not perfect, and may not always make the best move for the public or his die-hard fans, but all the hatred so many express towards him is undeserved. This unfair hatred was never more evident then in the past few months when Mayweather decided to come out of a 21-month retirement and test his skill against the consensus #2 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, Juan Manuel Marquez. Coming out of such a long retirement (especially in a contact sport that requires you to be in the best shape physically, mentally and emotionally) a fighter, even of Mayweather’s stature and caliber, almost always takes a tune-up fight. Such was not the case on Saturday night. Mayweather decided to return and fight against the man who gave Manny Pacquiao (the consensus #1 pound-for-pound champion) hell for 24 rounds.

Marquez is the same guy whom most, including myself, feel beat Pacquiao in both of their fights. It is okay for Oscar De la Hoya to fight Pacquiao and for Pacquiao to fight Marquez, and it is surely okay for Mayweather to fight Pacquiao, but for some reason, it is against the grain for Floyd to fight Marquez. This all sounds very confusing, doesn’t it? I would have to agree, but such is not the logic of many fans, writers and commentators. There is no logic in the public’s opinion that the Mayweather vs. Marquez bout of last Saturday was unevenly matched.

Many friends and counterparts from various boxing forums have tried to tell me that the reason the UFC is better than boxing is because no matter what weight class or size someone is, the UFC seems to make them fight. I agree except that it does not hold true for Mayweather, who moves around to fight in many weight classes. Since Mayweather fights top rated guys regardless of weight class, his critics say he is hand-picking opponents and ducking others. What an absurd concept!! The best fighters should be fighting each other, unlike the Klischko brothers, who handpick their opponents without repercussions in the public and media’s eyes.

A wonderful example of what I am talking about are common opponents that Mayweather and Pacquiao have in common: De la Hoya and Ricky Hatton. Floyd takes his weight up to 154, where Oscar has spent the past five or six years, and beats him convincingly. (Sorry judge Tom Kaczmerek, I disgare with your score- Floyd beat Oscar with ease.) Not only did the punch stat numbers agree with that, but anyone who saw the fight and knew what they were watching would have known that Oscar was hitting gloves, elbows and the shoulders of Mayweather, and not making decent hits to Mayweather himself. Manny drains Oscar down to 145 lbs. and beats him up, and Pacquiao is all of a sudden God Himself. The same holds true in the Hatton fights, where Floyd destroyed and annihilated an undefeated Hatton with the grace of a brush stroke from Michelangelo himself, and Hatton closed his eyes and threw a Hail Mary that happened to land, (yes it was an “Oohh ****” moment), and Hatton became “baddest dude on the planet.”

Now, I understand Manny hadn’t fought at 135 until those two fights, and Floyd had five or six fights above 135 at the time he fought De la Hoya, but we must use our common sense and logic well, and understand that there is always going to be underlying issues in every fight. Mayweather’s victories over the two men, given the circumstances, are much more impressive then those of Manny Pacquaio, who got the leftovers. While Manny turned pro at 106 pounds at 16 years of age, Mayweather was winning the National Golden Gloves at 106 pounds. I guarantee that the level of competition Floyd was fighting at the time as an amateur was better then what Manny was seeing as a ripe professional!

Now, back to this past Saturday night in Las Vegas - I do not believe there is anyone outside of Mayweather or his camp that believed he would look as good as he did against the world class fighter Marquez. Being a personal fan of Mayweather, I found even myself crossing my chest and saying about 30 Hail Mary’s. From the opening bell it was obvious that the man still has it and is still by far the best fighter in the world today. Critics, say what you want about weight, because weight does not win fights. Look at the history of the sport, do some research and step outside of the box, and you will see that throughout the history of boxing, great fighters with great skill sets have been able to go up multiple weight classes and beat other good or great fighters. This is no fluke or one-time deal - it happens all the time. Why has Mayweather been able to move from 130 to 154 pounds and beat everyone in his path? Were Genaro Hernandez and Deigo Corrales (RIP) not bigger men at 130 pounds then Mayweather? Was Jose Luis Castillo not a bigger and physically stronger man then Floyd at 135 pounds? How about Phillip Ndou? Arturo Gatti at 140 pounds? Or Carlos Baldomir at 147 pounds and Oscar De la Hoya at 154pounds? Like it or not, Mayweather has gone up in weight in eight fights in his entire career and punished naturally bigger guys. I Know Ricky Hatton fought at 140lbs his entire career and fought Floyd at 147, but Hatton walks around anywhere from 175-190 pounds normally – which is a far cry from Mayweather’s 150-155lbs, and still Mayweather punished him. But even in that case size didn’t matter right?
The thing with Floyd that has been discussed for a long time is the fact that there is a double standard when it comes to him that isn’t present for any other fighter except maybe Roy Jones. It seems to me that it is because no matter who Jones or Mayweather fights or have fought, they have a skill set that is in a different stratosphere, and therefore making fights that would normally be competitive look like sparring sessions.

[Maxshayne]

The media does not help in this matter either. On numerous occasions Larry Merchant, Jim Lampley and Manny Steward have said that the problem with Mayweather is that he is perfect, and there is no room for perfection in boxing. Uhh, excuse me? There is room for perfection in anything you do. No one ever told Michael Jordan to quit making the shots at the buzzer or doing a ridiculous dunk over someone like Patrick Ewing - to stop because it was bad for the sport. You don’t hear anyone tell Tiger Woods on the 18th Hole when he is tied not to sink the 40 foot snake putt to win the tournament because it will embarrass the other guy! So why is perfection okay in these instances but not in that of Floyd Mayweather? Is it the drama that is lacking? Well I hate to say it then but maybe Floyd Mayweather is better at what he does then Jordan was or even Tiger is in his sport. The reason it looks so effortless is because with Mayweather it is! He’s that damned good. Why make something hard when it can be easy?

That is just what it was for Floyd this past weekend - easy work. After 21 months off, he came in and put a whopping on a guy that gave Manny Pacquiao all he could handle; a guy who won more of the 24 rounds they fought then Pacquiao did. Sit there for a minute and let that statement sink in. Pretty amazing isn’t it? But I am sure it was the weight, it wasn’t and didn’t come down to skill at all. Wasn’t Floyd as quick, if not quicker, at 140 pounds? And what about at 135 and 130lbs? Was his defense any less elusive? Was he less smart at those smaller weights? What makes anyone think that even if Floyd made the 144 pounds, as opposed to the 146, that the outcome would have been any different? Marquez almost fell over three times that I counted from swinging and missing so badly. Floyd stood right in front of him and made him miss, and making Marquez land only 12% of his total punches, while he himself stood tattooing one of the most effective and tactful fighters in the sport with 59% connects of his own. I don’t care what anyone says out loud or tries to admit to anybody else, NO ONE thought he was going to be that good, and no one, including Marquez, thought he was going to beat Marquez up the way he did. Tell me when you have ever seen a look of discouragement on Juan Manuel Marquez’s face like you saw after the 3rd round Saturday night? It was a brilliant boxing display by one of the best pugilist’s to ever lace up a glove, and if this guy continues to fight the guys he is fighting and continues to beat them, he could be the greatest fighter ever! Numbers don’t lie and neither do stats. Sure, it was a bad incident when Floyd came in at 146 and not 144 like was supposed to be at the contracted weight. What I don’t understand is why the fight was contracted at 147 pounds, but anything over 144 pounds would yield a fine of 300,000 dollars per pound. Either Floyd couldn’t make the weight, or like Manny Steward said, he must have been comfortable with the weight and didn’t want to kill himself. Either way, it is what it is, and it is obvious what was in the contract; and it’s obvious that everyone at Golden Boy knew this but Marquez, who seemed to be confused.

I feel bad for Marquez in the fact that I don’t feel Mayweather cheated him, but I feel that Golden Boy Promotions did cheat him. Marquez fought his heart out and never gave up, and that is why people love him so much. He will be back and at a different weight, I assume. There are some big names out there for Marquez to fight at 140 pounds on down: Judah, Hatton, Bradley, Holt and Campbell to name a few. Any of these names would make a fine challenge for Marquez and I hope to see him back very soon for he is a great fighter, great champion and great human being.

September the 19th of the year 2009 belonged to the best fighter in the world, as it should have. Mayweather displayed the skills that have made him a household name and caused 39 opponents to feel confused, baffled and downright embarrassed that a fellow man stood right in front of them while they were trying to take his head off and found nothing but air. Mayweather is a rare talent in any sport, but being as good as he is in a sport in which you are in there by yourself and someone else is trying to beat you to death and you come out as clean as you came in, there are no words for it. Mayweather is that good, and there is no other fighter in boxing or MMA that you can guarantee will win every fight he is in, but with Mayweather we already know the outcome before the fight starts. No other fighter has ever moved multiple weight classes, won world titles, gained super stardom and remained undefeated - no one.

Let’s not forget that this is a sport older than the United States itself and regardless of what Dana White says, boxing isn’t dying or losing ground to the UFC. Mr. White, if boxing could survive the Great Depression, it can withstand blows from your professional bar fighting league. Regardless of what White says, he doesn’t have an elite athlete in his sport that has done the things Mayweather has done and remained undefeated in doing so, and when he does, he can talk. When he pays his fighters what they deserve instead of minimum wage and a $60,000 bonus for KO of the night (which is a complete insult – I would rather have someone slap me in the face than accept something that should have been added into my purse in the first place) he can talk. Was he able to put together Lesner-Fedor? Did boxing put together De la Hoya-Mayweather? Okay then. Mayweather is a rare athlete, a rare talent and as I have said before, he should be treated like it instead of dogged for it. Just because he puts such a whopping on other elite fighters and makes them look like sparring partners doesn’t mean he should be picked apart for it like he has been regarding Marquez this past weekend. I’ve said it once and I will continue to say it - fighters like Floyd come around once in a lifetime if we are lucky, and he is an exceptional talent and should be treated as such, for we will all miss him when he really is gone. The past 21 months are an indication of that. The King is back - love it or hate it, the King is back and whether it be Pacquiao or Mosley next, I pray for them because if Saturday night was rusty for the pound for pound Picasso then I would hate to see what shined up is. I am willing to bet Pacquiao or Mosley feel the same way about the man they call “Money” because whether sitting ringside or on your couch at home, what you saw him do to an elite world class technician Saturday night was downright shocking.

[Maxshayne]

“Long Live Money May.” This time, don’t stay away so long - we missed you. The only question now is, who’s next in line to deal with what Floyd is dishing out? Regardless of who it is, you can be sure they are going to get hands put on them the same way the previous 39 other opponents to get in his way have. To whomever it may be, I say GOOD LUCK – You’re going to need it!



SIDE NOTES:

-Speaking of Shane Mosley, what was up with his “Kanye West” move Saturday night? What did he think he was going to accomplish by acting like a rude jerk in front of millions? He had his shot 10 years ago as well as after the second Vargas fight, but he had a “toothache”. Now he sees Mayweather as a huge payday before he hangs ‘em up and Sugar has a sweet tooth. Sorry Shane, but acting like a complete tool isn’t going to move you any closer to a fight with the worlds best, especially when you aren’t a PPV staple and make a fifth of what Floyd makes per fight. Nice try, maybe next time you won’t look or act so desperate, it looks pathetic. You are used to being a sparring partner and if Floyd over looks your ignorance and gives you a shot, that is exactly what you will end up being, a sparring partner.

-Opponents of Wladimir Klitschko: Why does every single one of you have a game plan, skills, speed, defense and punching power yet seem to buckle during the stare-down with Dr. Steelhammer? Everyone goes in there, stands flat-footed right in front of him and eats a jab and a right hand until they fall down. Move to the side, work your way in and try and sell out, we all know Dr. Steelhammer has a less then steel jaw and the next person who touches it will be shockingly surprised to find him ass over elbows, folded like a lawn chair.

-Paulie Malinaggi: Bro, worry less about your hair, make up and costumes and worry more about beating the guy in front of you. That’s like three or four fights in a row where you have had more talent and gotten beat when you shouldn’t have. I like you and know you can do better, that’s why I say this.

-Dan Rafael and Doug Fisher: When are you guys, who have never ever laced up a glove, (even to shovel your driveways), going to learn anything about boxing? I read your crappy material on almost a weekly basis and am shocked you have jobs. You couldn’t be any further off for having great contacts and hook-ups throughout the sport. Neither of you seem to understand what a great talent is. You both seem to lack the knowledge of what the meaning “The Sweet Science” is. You boast and brag about how someone needs to close the show for him to have a great performance while totally neglecting the fact that this sport was built on great talent from great fighters that hit and were not hit.

-Bob Arum, Freddie Roach and Manny Pacquiao: First off Bobby boy, did I seriously see you offer Amir Khan the next shot at Manny should he get by Cotto? Are you serious? You have been trying to shove Manny down our throat like he is God’s gift to boxing and then you pit him up against David Diaz and now you are talking Amir Khan while trying to use your lying snake-like dirty propaganda to make us think Mayweather, (who you said was the best fighter since Ali,) is scared of Manny or doesn’t want to fight him? I hope you stepped away from counting your Delusion Pills to see the “Scaredy Cat” annihilate the guy that beat your “pride and joy” up twice. Do you still think Manny would put Floyd on his back? Me neither. Quit making excuses and make the fight happen.

-Freddie Roach, while I respect what it is you do, you really don’t see Manny smashing Floyd like you once though he would, right? I mean come on he is tailor-made for Floyd. He walks in with his gloves up with crappy upper body movement, throws punches off balance, has no defense, punches with his eyes closed and is overly aggressive to the point where he gets so wild that a master boxer with great technique and counter-punching skills will take him apart round by round until there is nothing left. You have made great strides with him but he has only been an elite fighter the past few years, while Mayweather has been an elite fighter his entire career. Why don’t you do with Manny like Floyd has done for himself his whole career and when you move up in weight, fight the guy at the weight not make them come in drained at a catchweight so you can beat up on them. You fight Floyd without a catchweight and he will tear Manny up, not like he wouldn’t at any weight. Come on Freddie, the joke’s up.

-Manny Pacquiao, you’d better not concentrate too much on the movies you are making, because you don’t want to end up like Antonio Tarver, or worse yet Lennox Lewis. If you do happen to get by Cotto, because that fight is a coin-toss just like all your other fights, then be sure to tell Bobby you want Floyd next, and if you, Freddie or Bobby has the balls to make it happen, I guarantee the Manny Express will be derailed. You don’t have the technical skill to match up with Floyd, and he will crush and expose you for what you really are - the paper pound-for-pound champion.

And finally, Bernard Hopkins. Dude, for as bad as you act as Oscar’s right hand man and as a fighter, you need to settle up two things for us. 1) Fight Roy Jones man. We are all sick and tired of you asking for more money then you are worth when it is obvious Roy is a bigger star then you and always has been. I remember just last year on this very site you asked for a poll to be put up to see who had the better legacy and if my mind serves me correctly is was like 85-15 in favor of Roy. So please hold off with the “I’m bigger then I am” crap and sign to fight him. 2) quit making Shane look as desperate and pathetic as you are by jumping in the ring like Kanye West and forcing Shane to confront guys like Mayweather like they are your own little personal wind up doll. It’s a joke. “a closed mouth never get’s fed” that may be true but bringing purses of 2 or 3 mil and live gates of 2 million at staples center while fighting on HBO Boxing After Dark isn’t going to get Floyd in the ring, which we all know is true of Shane. He isn’t a big star, his numbers prove that. If he was why after 15 or 16 years in the sport is he earning the money floyd earned 10 years ago? Either he isn’t a draw or his promotional company has a problem getting him the big money fights. Plus does his tooth still hurt? Bhop you and I both know how many things Sugar Shane does wrong and how many things Floyd will expose should they meet so lets quit the BS and shoot the fans straight. You and Oscar should be looking after your fighters not trying to suck money out of them until they end up drooling all over themselves because last I heard, Shane was having a hard time putting sentence’s together. It sounds like he is talking directly into an industrial fan turned on high. Also nice touch not letting Marquez know Floyd couldn’t make 144 until after the weigh in, you guys aren’t like Don King or Bob Arum though right? You’re different.


* I Will be starting a weekly mailbag starting next Monday September the 28th. Any questions or comments you may have about this article or anything else going on in the world of boxing feel free to email me and I will get to as many as possible @ badjabs25@yahoo.com. Emails must be in by the Friday before in order for them to be answered *