Time for Floyd to step up and fight the best of the best

By Boxing News - 07/04/2012 - Comments

Image: Time for Floyd to step up and fight the best of the bestBy Kristofer Williams Sr. Outside the ring, Floyd Mayweather Jr is far from being undefeated. He hits women. He goes on racial tirades. He loses his cool in public and gets owned by radio show hosts. He invests in corrupt casino operations that go bust and ends up losing millions of dollars in the process. Nobody bought his “Take the Test” T-Shirts. He lies to his fans with his posturing. And Reebok dropped its endorsement deal with him in 2010.

But inside the ring, he’s still undefeated. Big deal, so is Chris John.

It’s mid-2012, and there still aren’t any true negotiations taking place between Al Haymon, Bob Arum, Team Mayweather, and Team Pacquiao. At this point, there is one single roadblock that Mr. Mayweather has thrown into the mix – his insistence on keeping 100% of the PPV pie. It does not make sense. It is nowhere near fair. And Manny Pacquiao isn’t having it, especially since Pacquiao for the last two years has made it known to the Milky Way Galaxy that he has no issues regarding Floyd’s “catchweight” testing demand, which consists of a pseudo “Olympic style” blood and urine testing protocol to be administered by the USADA. In other words, Pacquiao will test. Heck, he’ll even take the SAT, MCAT, or the LSAT if Floyd asked for it.

With Pacquiao’s defamation suit ongoing, and with Floyd’s lawyers having filed a countersuit, the tables have now turned. Pacquaio’s lawyers are asking the USADA to turn over Floyd’s three USADA-administered drug tests for review, and the USADA is asking the Superior Court to deny the request. It’s Floyd’s turn to disclose his past drug tests if he wants to prove he’s best.

In any case, the fact still remains: Floyd, along with the guidance of his “go-to guy” Al Haymon, have once again put up another major obstacle to prevent the super-fight from coming to fruition. Once Floyd eases up on his ridiculous “zero PPV” demand, I am almost sure Top Rank and Team Pacquiao would agree to make the fight any time, anywhere, as long as there is a reasonable and fair split on the PPV revenue. This, right now, is THE bottom line. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. And if Floyd is hoping Pacquiao will rescind the defamation lawsuit as another one of Floyd’s silly requirements to get the fight made, he can keep dreaming. You reap what you sow, and if Floyd learns anything from being in jail, it would be to grow up and carry his weight like a man.

Earlier this week, Floyd Mayweather Sr. told Examiner.com that his son “would knock [Chavez Jr’s] a—out.” Nobody should be shocked.

Any time another high profile boxer receives recognition or is coming off an impressive win, the Mayweathers never cease to amaze me with their pretentiousness. Always quick to pull the trigger in discrediting another fighter they feel is a threat to their pound-for-pound superiority, the Mayweathers have indeed mastered the art of pompous trash-talk.

Their new target is boxing’s heir apparent, the undefeated 46-0-1 Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., who is currently scheduled to fight undisputed 160 lb king Sergio Martinez on September 15th. Perhaps Floyd Sr. is a little perturbed that Chavez is getting a lot of limelight and publicity while his son is behind bars. Or perhaps Floyd Sr. is starting to see Chavez Jr. as a legitimate threat, just as he did with Pacquiao in 2009. Whatever the case may be, Floyd Sr.’s comments have jealousy written all over it.

“I’ll tell you the truth,” the elder Mayweather said. “This guy might be bigger than Floyd and all that stuff, but Floyd would whoop the [expletive] out of him.”

It’s flat out obvious Floyd Sr.’s comments are in response to Top Rank making the bout between Chavez Jr and Martinez ever since questions have surfaced for more than a year regarding Floyd’s willingness, or lack thereof, to challenge the top two pound-for-pound fighters in the sport in Pacquiao and Martinez. Now that Chavez has signed on to fight Martinez, its no surprise that Floyd Sr. has indirectly called out Chavez Jr., who at least has the moxie and self-confidence to test his mettle against the best of the best.

What will Floyd do once he is released from jail in late August? As it looks today, he doesn’t have much wiggle room to avoid the top fighters. At 154 lbs, the ultra-tough but inexperienced Saul “Canelo” Alvarez is sitting pretty. At 160 lbs, the winner of Chavez Jr.-Martinez will be more than ready to stake his claim as number one pound-for-pound. And of course at 147 lbs, Pacquiao and his fists of fury lay waiting.

Whether it’s at welterweight or middleweight, an elite power puncher who has PPV power is ready to take his head off. Floyd has nowhere to run and nowhere to hide.

When people ask me, “What’s next for Floyd?”

I reply with a smirk, “You already know. Miguel Cotto.”

Easy money.



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