By Brian Kenneth Blackwell: Tonight Floyd Mayweather Jr. made one thing very clear. He cannot be beaten at this stage of his career by a smaller man. He simply has too much speed, and that negates the one advantage a smaller fighter brings with him. This goes for any and all smaller challengers relevant to the sport of boxing at this moment.
Needless to say, Mayweather made easy work of Juan Manuel Marquez to the point at which it looked like a typical Roy Jones Jr. fight, without the Roy Jones Jr. showmanship. Floyd Mayweather’s defense was absolutely superb. From my eyes, I did not see Marquez land a single significant shot on his opponent.
One thing is for certain, advertising still works in selling pay-per-views and tickets, because they built up this fight as if it was going to be competitive. When I first heard that this fight was going to happen, my little bit of boxing knowledge showed through, and I predicted that this was a huge mismatch. As Manny Steward said constantly throughout this fight, “that’s why there are weight classes.” But I spent $15.00 tonight to watch the fight in a local theater. For a short period, I was sold that Marquez had a puncher’s chance because of his “relentless heart.” I figured, well, Evander Holyfield was consistently, on average, 40 or so pounds lighter than his opponents in the heavyweight division. His heart on many occasions carried him to victory, or at least through the fight. Why couldn’t Marquez handle a much less significant weight disparity?
Before I continue, let me clear up one thing as it is for certain. It would be an absolute mistake for Manny Pacquiao to take a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. Just 20 seconds into this fight, I already could see the speed difference between Floyd and Juan. Pacquiao has the will to slug it out, but I do not think his chin would hold up, and Floyd’s signature left hook, yes the same one that put Juan on his back, would end the fight within 2 rounds. It would be easy pickings for Floyd, and it would hurt Pacquiao’s legacy as a great fighter being humiliated in the way he would be in losing to Floyd. Yes, Floyd would win big; easy.
I will say this though, there was far more drama in the post fight interview than there was the entire boxing card this evening. When asked about his failure to make weight by Max Kellerman, Floyd avoided the question. Any intelligent fan knowledgeable to boxing would be left to determine that Floyd’s failure to make weight, and refusal to disclose his weight on fight night, would be that he simply did not want to drain himself on fight night. When asked if it was an issue of money, Floyd “Money” Mayweather, humorous to myself, stated, “I’m not here to talk about money.” Then suddenly, Shane Mosley appeared and aggressively challenged Floyd to his face. Floyd actually appeared to be intimidated. His reaction was one eerily similar to that of Roy Jones Jr. after being challenged by Antonio Tarver. And that as we know it is in the history books. Floyd’s only comeback to Shane’s challenge was that he never interrupted one of Shane’s post fight interviews, and that he should respect him like a man. Not once did he acknowledge the actual challenge.
I have one thing to say about fighters who avoid potential opponents. Eventually, the fight, through either pressure from the media, or by the fans has to take place. Floyd, like Roy before him, feels that he is in another class than Sugar Shane, just as Roy felt regarding Antonio Tarver. But you know, if you are, then you have to go out and prove it. If a guy is your size, and consistently fights in your weight class, you cannot assume that because you had success against another fighter similar to this one, that you will have the same success. All you are doing is giving that potential opponent more time to study your ring habits, and eventually he will have your number. More so than the weight loss with Roy Jones Jr. coming down from heavyweight to challenge Antonio Tarver being an issue, I feel that this was a much more decisive one in their cases. And it showed through in all 3 of their matches. Antonio proved throughout his career that he was not the fighter Roy was, but he just had Roy’s number. But you know, I feel that Roy knew he would have trouble with Tarver, just as I feel that Floyd knows he will have trouble with Shane.
It seems that as of late Floyd has been making a living on calling himself a welterweight, but beating up on fighters who are smaller than him. He took out a junior-welterweight in Ricky Hatton, he beat up a lightweight in Juan Manuel Marquez, and now he looks to, and most likely will beat up a smaller man in Manny Pacquiao. Yes, everyone is aware that it is absolutely Floyd’s prerogative to hand pick every opponent he fights, but history shows that all of the great fighters eclipsed great challenges by fighting guys in higher weight classes and defeating them. Some are acclaimed for at least taking on that challenge. Floyd, it seems, will not even acknowledge challenges made by the belt holders in his weight class, the welterweight division.
I asked myself why Floyd seems to bring on such negative attention from the media, and my answer came in his childish antics in the post-fight interview. He sees himself as something great, and yes Floyd accomplishes great things. But I believe that everyone knows the level of greatness that Floyd’s skills are at, and he simply is not taking on great enough challenges to appease we the fight fans. In this case, we did not see this fight as an actual challenge. This fight went exactly 100% how I felt it would, but hoped it would not. I relish great victories when the outcome is absolutely in doubt. Where I know that a fighter must fight the perfect fight to even make it through via decision. I’m sorry, but taking on smaller men does nothing for me. It does nothing for Floyd’s legacy as a great fighter. And it does nothing for the sake of keeping fans interested in the fading sport of boxing. You might ask, “Well, what does Floyd owe us the fans?” My answer is, “nothing.” But Floyd puts himself on that pedestal. He makes himself out to be the victim. And he promotes himself as being great enough to overcome “all” challenges. Well, let’s see a challenge worthy of noting.
In closing, will say that it is obvious that Floyd came from nothing, and his attitude shows it. Just as the typical rapper from the “hood,” Floyd craves attention, and he loves to brag about his material gains, which is apparent in his boorish displays. When he does not receive the attention he desires, he clams up, exactly the way a teenager challenges authority in the midst of an adolescent meltdown. But he is not fooling anyone with any real intelligence, which is anyone outside of his camp. How about Floyd challenging somebody at least his size, and under the age of 36. I’ll give you a victory that would shut me up permanently regarding the subject of Floyd’s legacy. A Floyd Mayweather Jr. victory over Paul Williams.
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