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Mayweather disrespected Marquez, boxing
Thursday, September 24, 2009 | Print Entry
• Floyd Mayweather Jr. didn't take nearly enough grief for not making weight for Saturday's fight with Juan Manuel Marquez. Missing weight happens from time to time for fighters. It's never good, but, alas, it happens.
However, what really ticks me off is the way this one went down. I truly believe Mayweather, who was 146 pounds, never had any intention of making the contract weight of 144. Ever. (Al Haymon note : I told you that LAST WEEK) Not from the day the deal was done in late April until the time he stepped on the scale Friday.
He treated Marquez like a chump and got away with it by paying him a few extra bucks. But, really, what is $600,000 when Mayweather stands to earn eight figures even after paying Marquez and paying off more than $5 million in IRS debts, especially when all indications are that the pay-per-view is going through the roof and likely will crack 1 million buys? Mayweather also disregarded the Nevada State Athletic Commission's request for a bout contract (which lists the weight) to be filed in a timely fashion. Instead he waited until just minutes before the weigh-in.
Why do you think the contract weight was kept such a secret for the entire promotion, even though I did my own digging and got the contract weight correct from Day 1? Because Mayweather never intended to make it. Still, nobody from the promotion would speak about what the weight was on the record until Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, with his back to the wall, had no choice but to address it after the weigh-in debacle.
The whole weight thing was fishy from the outset, and then the weight was suddenly changed from 144 to 147 at the last minute to accommodate Mayweather. Golden Boy, Marquez's promoter, did its fighter a disservice (AH note: I told you that LAST WEEK) by not protecting him in any way all in the name of not upsetting Mayweather, the prima donna. Better not upset the star because he stands to make Golden Boy a lot more money than Marquez on future fights
. Even though Golden Boy doesn't have an official promotional contract with Mayweather, it does have a relationship with him going forward.
HBO was also complicit in weight-gate, simply turning the other way and never insisting that a basic fact of the promotion it supported to the hilt be announced to the public, especially when the media asked for it time and again. I've covered boxing for close to a decade. I don't remember a single fight in which the weight was kept a secret despite repeated requests.
Now, did two pounds make the difference between Mayweather winning and losing? Probably not. But that still doesn't make it right for him to run roughshod over everyone, and it sure wasn't right for everyone around him to facilitate the fraud. Mayweather should have been a professional about it and made the weight.
It was one thing for Mayweather to select Marquez, the lightweight champion and a much smaller man, as his comeback opponent. But for Mayweather to give himself an even greater advantage against a man who weighed 142 pounds, seven more than he had ever weighed for a fight in his life, showed no class.
If Mayweather wonders why he hasn't gotten more credit for his lopsided victory over Marquez, he need only look in the mirror.
By the way, if there's a silver lining to Marquez losing, and losing badly, it might be that thousands of young Mexican boxing hopefuls won't ever drink their own pee given how poorly that whole thing worked out.
• It was a bad night for Marquez, but an even worse one for his trainer, Nacho Beristain, who went 0-2 on the night. In addition to Marquez losing, Beristain also trains Vicente Escobedo, who was outclassed by Michael Katsidis in their lightweight bout.
• I've always been an admirer of Shane Mosley because he's always had a lot of class on top of his great talent. But I thought he showed no class by getting in the way of Mayweather's postfight interview on the pay-per-view, no doubt egged on by fellow Golden Boy partner Bernard Hopkins, who couldn't keep himself out of the camera frame if his life depended on it. Mosley has been making desperate callouts for months. First it was a rematch with Miguel Cotto, then Manny Pacquiao and now Mayweather. He's calling out everyone other than the dude he might actually fight, Andre Berto. There's a time and place to do what Mosley did and it's not 30 seconds after Mayweather won his fight. He did deserve at least a few minutes to enjoy his moment. Maybe Mosley has been hanging out too much with Kanye West?
Thursday, September 24, 2009 | Print Entry
• Floyd Mayweather Jr. didn't take nearly enough grief for not making weight for Saturday's fight with Juan Manuel Marquez. Missing weight happens from time to time for fighters. It's never good, but, alas, it happens.
However, what really ticks me off is the way this one went down. I truly believe Mayweather, who was 146 pounds, never had any intention of making the contract weight of 144. Ever. (Al Haymon note : I told you that LAST WEEK) Not from the day the deal was done in late April until the time he stepped on the scale Friday.
He treated Marquez like a chump and got away with it by paying him a few extra bucks. But, really, what is $600,000 when Mayweather stands to earn eight figures even after paying Marquez and paying off more than $5 million in IRS debts, especially when all indications are that the pay-per-view is going through the roof and likely will crack 1 million buys? Mayweather also disregarded the Nevada State Athletic Commission's request for a bout contract (which lists the weight) to be filed in a timely fashion. Instead he waited until just minutes before the weigh-in.
Why do you think the contract weight was kept such a secret for the entire promotion, even though I did my own digging and got the contract weight correct from Day 1? Because Mayweather never intended to make it. Still, nobody from the promotion would speak about what the weight was on the record until Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, with his back to the wall, had no choice but to address it after the weigh-in debacle.
The whole weight thing was fishy from the outset, and then the weight was suddenly changed from 144 to 147 at the last minute to accommodate Mayweather. Golden Boy, Marquez's promoter, did its fighter a disservice (AH note: I told you that LAST WEEK) by not protecting him in any way all in the name of not upsetting Mayweather, the prima donna. Better not upset the star because he stands to make Golden Boy a lot more money than Marquez on future fights
. Even though Golden Boy doesn't have an official promotional contract with Mayweather, it does have a relationship with him going forward.HBO was also complicit in weight-gate, simply turning the other way and never insisting that a basic fact of the promotion it supported to the hilt be announced to the public, especially when the media asked for it time and again. I've covered boxing for close to a decade. I don't remember a single fight in which the weight was kept a secret despite repeated requests.
Now, did two pounds make the difference between Mayweather winning and losing? Probably not. But that still doesn't make it right for him to run roughshod over everyone, and it sure wasn't right for everyone around him to facilitate the fraud. Mayweather should have been a professional about it and made the weight.
It was one thing for Mayweather to select Marquez, the lightweight champion and a much smaller man, as his comeback opponent. But for Mayweather to give himself an even greater advantage against a man who weighed 142 pounds, seven more than he had ever weighed for a fight in his life, showed no class.
If Mayweather wonders why he hasn't gotten more credit for his lopsided victory over Marquez, he need only look in the mirror.
By the way, if there's a silver lining to Marquez losing, and losing badly, it might be that thousands of young Mexican boxing hopefuls won't ever drink their own pee given how poorly that whole thing worked out.
• It was a bad night for Marquez, but an even worse one for his trainer, Nacho Beristain, who went 0-2 on the night. In addition to Marquez losing, Beristain also trains Vicente Escobedo, who was outclassed by Michael Katsidis in their lightweight bout.
• I've always been an admirer of Shane Mosley because he's always had a lot of class on top of his great talent. But I thought he showed no class by getting in the way of Mayweather's postfight interview on the pay-per-view, no doubt egged on by fellow Golden Boy partner Bernard Hopkins, who couldn't keep himself out of the camera frame if his life depended on it. Mosley has been making desperate callouts for months. First it was a rematch with Miguel Cotto, then Manny Pacquiao and now Mayweather. He's calling out everyone other than the dude he might actually fight, Andre Berto. There's a time and place to do what Mosley did and it's not 30 seconds after Mayweather won his fight. He did deserve at least a few minutes to enjoy his moment. Maybe Mosley has been hanging out too much with Kanye West?
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