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Mayweather spars with Leonard - verbally
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
By David Mayo
The Grand Rapids Press
LAS VEGAS -- Floyd Mayweather and Ray Leonard stood nose-to-nose at a weekend banquet debating the superiority of one vs. the other in a mythical fight.
The verbal rat-a-tat-tat was evenly engaged, as the fight might have been, until Mayweather d****d his arm over current welterweight champion Zab Judah and said, "Ray, if you were fighting in our era, you wouldn't even be in the top 10."
"Don't you think," Leonard replied, "that you ought to at least get up to my weight division before you talk like that?"
There was a Leonard-Mayweather fight once -- Leonard beat Floyd Mayweather Sr. via 10th-round technical knockout in 1977 -- but the matchup between Leonard and the younger Mayweather is one of boxing's mystical dream fights, like Joe Louis-Muhammad Ali or Michael Spinks-Archie Moore.
We will see them only in our minds' eyes.
In this case, Mayweather insisted Leonard spends more time contemplating it than he does.
"Ray brings it up every time I see him, what would happen if we fought," Mayweather said. "He's got a hang-up about it."
The verbal sparring was all in good fun, which is not to say free of authenticity.
Mayweather is still pursuing the 140-pound championship, held by Kostya Tszyu, though first he will go after an alphabet version held by Arturo Gatti on June 25 in Atlantic City, N.J.
Leonard never won a world championship lighter than welterweight, the 147-pound class, so he has a point about the weight disparity.
But Mayweather argued evenly and convincingly -- as opposed to his 33 professional fights, which generally have been convincingly uneven -- because his game is based on a unusual belief system, rooted in his innate understanding of boxing.
That foundation allows Mayweather to believe he would have whipped Sugar Ray Leonard. It also served as a personal safety net when his legal problems threatened the Gatti fight and resulted in him pleading no contest to a misdemeanor assault in Grand Rapids he denies committing.
Mayweather's spirit has not suffered from the ordeal. His debate with Leonard underscored his unfettered self-assurance at the 80th annual Boxing Writers Association of America awards banquet, a starry night with 20-plus current or former world champions in attendance, a few of whom stood out -- Oscar De La Hoya, Leonard and Mayweather chief among them.
The night after the banquet, Diego Corrales, his right eye so swollen he was peering through a tiny slit, got off the canvas from two 10th-round knockdowns and shocked Jose Luis Castillo with a technical knockout that same round for the lightweight championship. It may have been the best fight I ever have seen.
The measure of Mayweather's ability is his total three victories over those same fighters, including a five-knockdown destruction of Corrales. The first Castillo fight was regarded as close enough to mandate a rematch, which was not as close. When Corrales and Castillo met each other, they produced an unforgettable result. But against Mayweather, all they did was help punch a Hall of Fame ticket.
As for punching tickets for the Gatti fight, you better have them already. The fight sold out in three days.
Gatti has been in his Florida training camp for a month.
Mayweather began serious training last week.
"That's all the time I need," Mayweather said with a dismissive shake of the head.
For all his foibles, Mayweather never fails to heed his craft. It's just that so few people actually see him doing it. He does his gym work late in the afternoons, in a time reserved for him. He does roadwork late at night and trains at 24-hour fitness centers when few are present.
Eight days ago, in his return to boxing training, Mayweather sparred 13 rounds, one more than the scheduled distance for the Gatti fight.
What Mayweather claims he could do to Leonard is sheer theory.
What he says he can do to Gatti, he will get the chance to prove.
"Gatti's going to pay," Mayweather said. "I promise you, it's going to be a show. He's going to get the best of Floyd Mayweather."
*This article was e-mailed to my by a good friend, what do you all think?
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
By David Mayo
The Grand Rapids Press
LAS VEGAS -- Floyd Mayweather and Ray Leonard stood nose-to-nose at a weekend banquet debating the superiority of one vs. the other in a mythical fight.
The verbal rat-a-tat-tat was evenly engaged, as the fight might have been, until Mayweather d****d his arm over current welterweight champion Zab Judah and said, "Ray, if you were fighting in our era, you wouldn't even be in the top 10."
"Don't you think," Leonard replied, "that you ought to at least get up to my weight division before you talk like that?"
There was a Leonard-Mayweather fight once -- Leonard beat Floyd Mayweather Sr. via 10th-round technical knockout in 1977 -- but the matchup between Leonard and the younger Mayweather is one of boxing's mystical dream fights, like Joe Louis-Muhammad Ali or Michael Spinks-Archie Moore.
We will see them only in our minds' eyes.
In this case, Mayweather insisted Leonard spends more time contemplating it than he does.
"Ray brings it up every time I see him, what would happen if we fought," Mayweather said. "He's got a hang-up about it."
The verbal sparring was all in good fun, which is not to say free of authenticity.
Mayweather is still pursuing the 140-pound championship, held by Kostya Tszyu, though first he will go after an alphabet version held by Arturo Gatti on June 25 in Atlantic City, N.J.
Leonard never won a world championship lighter than welterweight, the 147-pound class, so he has a point about the weight disparity.
But Mayweather argued evenly and convincingly -- as opposed to his 33 professional fights, which generally have been convincingly uneven -- because his game is based on a unusual belief system, rooted in his innate understanding of boxing.
That foundation allows Mayweather to believe he would have whipped Sugar Ray Leonard. It also served as a personal safety net when his legal problems threatened the Gatti fight and resulted in him pleading no contest to a misdemeanor assault in Grand Rapids he denies committing.
Mayweather's spirit has not suffered from the ordeal. His debate with Leonard underscored his unfettered self-assurance at the 80th annual Boxing Writers Association of America awards banquet, a starry night with 20-plus current or former world champions in attendance, a few of whom stood out -- Oscar De La Hoya, Leonard and Mayweather chief among them.
The night after the banquet, Diego Corrales, his right eye so swollen he was peering through a tiny slit, got off the canvas from two 10th-round knockdowns and shocked Jose Luis Castillo with a technical knockout that same round for the lightweight championship. It may have been the best fight I ever have seen.
The measure of Mayweather's ability is his total three victories over those same fighters, including a five-knockdown destruction of Corrales. The first Castillo fight was regarded as close enough to mandate a rematch, which was not as close. When Corrales and Castillo met each other, they produced an unforgettable result. But against Mayweather, all they did was help punch a Hall of Fame ticket.
As for punching tickets for the Gatti fight, you better have them already. The fight sold out in three days.
Gatti has been in his Florida training camp for a month.
Mayweather began serious training last week.
"That's all the time I need," Mayweather said with a dismissive shake of the head.
For all his foibles, Mayweather never fails to heed his craft. It's just that so few people actually see him doing it. He does his gym work late in the afternoons, in a time reserved for him. He does roadwork late at night and trains at 24-hour fitness centers when few are present.
Eight days ago, in his return to boxing training, Mayweather sparred 13 rounds, one more than the scheduled distance for the Gatti fight.
What Mayweather claims he could do to Leonard is sheer theory.
What he says he can do to Gatti, he will get the chance to prove.
"Gatti's going to pay," Mayweather said. "I promise you, it's going to be a show. He's going to get the best of Floyd Mayweather."
*This article was e-mailed to my by a good friend, what do you all think?
And his is a extremley skilled fighter. The king of the welterweight division right now.
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