Floyd’s opponents have a choice to say yes or no

By Boxing News - 05/13/2013 - Comments

floyd744By Robert Elmore: If a man asks a woman to marry him, she has choice to make. She can say yes or no. If she says no, then she believes she’s not ready to take on all things that come in a marriage. If she says yes, then she is fully aware of all the fixings that come with being married. But the bottom line is she had a choice; to accept and reject the offer.

I have read several blogs about Floyd Mayweather Jr. But there seems to be an underlining tone in these blogs. Most seem to want to disrespect Floyd’s accomplishments and choice of opponents at all cost. But what I have not seen one article or blog that questions the motives of those who agree to fight Floyd. Ever since Floyd has become the super star of boxing he cries of “he is a cherry picker” has become the theme around the media. Not everyone is buying into the hate Floyd band wagon. Some have given credit where credit is deserved.

It takes two to make a fight. These are grown men making grown man decisions. Nobody is forcing these men into a bout with Mayweather. There are three main reasons why fighters except Floyd’s challenge. First the most obvious is the money. Starting with Oscar De La Hoya every fighter has made a career pay day and enjoyed major pay per view success fighting Floyd. Two, they believe they have the skills to beat Floyd. And Three, it brings attention to their career going forward; especially the younger fighters.

Ricky Hatton, Shane Mosley, Juan Manuel Marquez, Victor Ortiz, Miguel Cotto, and Robert Guerrero all said yes to yes to Floyd for one the reasons above. Regardless of how old they were, or their skill set, they accepted the challenge and got beat. It’s as simple as that. If these fighters sole reason for fighting Floyd is strictly for money then they lost the fight when they signed the contract. If they do it for the money and belief in the skills, then they gave themselves a chance.

Juan Manuel Marquez took the Floyd fight strictly for money in my opinion. Didn’t Marquez know that he would have to jump 2 weight classes to get fight at welter weight? Didn’t he know that he had never fought at that weight before? Of course he did. So how can somebody blame Floyd in this matter? The fight was set to take place at the contracted weight of 144, but Floyd hit the scale at 146.

Marquez could have easily walked away, but he saw the base purse of 3.2 million, the 600,000 for weight penalty, and a percentage of the pay per view buys he was getting. He took his opportunity and was beaten soundly. And recently Marquez has expressed no interest in a rematch with the pound for pound king.

Shane Mosley dominated Antonio Margarito in 2010 before agreeing to fight Floyd. He even went as far as to interrupt Floyd’s interview after his win over Marquez just to get the fight. But didn’t Shane know that he was 38 years old going into that fight? He had to know. He knew what year he was born. Shane, knowing his age, didn’t seem to think of himself as being old or having no chance against Floyd.

If he did, then he hid it well. He believed he had the goods to beat the pound for pound king. Therefore, he entered into the ring at own risk and was dominated after round 2. Most of all he knew the financial benefits in taking that fight. Shane His guaranteed purse was 7 million plus a percentage of the pay per view sales. So again how can anyone blame Floyd for Shane’s decision?

Was Victor Ortiz aware of his age, inexperience in fighting a masterful boxer like Floyd? Of course he was. But he was getting a guaranteed purse of 2 million big ones with PPV up side. He was knocked out in the 4th round by what many considered a cheap shot by Floyd. Ortiz purposely speared his head into Floyd’s nose after being dominated in the 4th round. If you watch the fight closely, there were 4 apologies before Ortiz got what he deserved. So please explain how this is Floyd’s fault for Ortiz’s decision.

Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero had not lost in 7 years before facing Floyd. He was a lightweight and made a jump to welterweight to put himself in line to get a shot at Floyd. Didn’t Guerrero know that Floyd was not Andre Berto or Selcuk Aydin? He had to know. But again, he too believed his rough-em-up style would topple Floyd. Guerrero found out quickly that Floyd was not your average boxer. Floyd’s defense was on point. He moved when he had to, but fought mostly in the pocket.

Guerrero ‘s Robert’s base purse was 3 million dollars which was 2 million more than he got against Andre Berto. But is this Floyd’s fault for Guerrero accepting the challenge?

Miguel Cotto accepted the challenge of Floyd. His base purse was 8 million and took home extra with the pay per view doing 1.5 million buys. Cotto was able to hit Mayweather more than Floyd’s past opponents when Floyd languished on the ropes. But in the center of the ring, Mayweather popped him at all. But Cotto was comfortable at 154 and was a super middleweight on fight night. Floyd won by unanimous decision.

FT: Bottom line is this. Each of these men was presented with options and they took them. Again no one and I mean no one forced these men into a fight with Floyd. They took the fight for whatever reason and were defeated. They could have easily walked away. Remember folks, the next person that fights Floyd will have a choice to say yes or no. 44 have tried and 44 have failed.



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