by Niko Tricarico: The public cried, “Outrage!” They screamed in vain for Pacquiao and Mayweather to find some sort of an agreement. It was the most anticipated fight in the history of the sport! It has to happen! It must happen. How could it NOT happen? Without this fight what state is boxing in? It’s a super fight that even the casual boxing fan was pining for. It’s over. Boxing is ruined. No Pacquiao and Mayweather? Boxing is…oh no! What IS boxing without Mayweather? He’s so good. He’s so charismatic. He’s so engaging. What is boxing without this great contributor to the sport?
And the answer is…better. “Better?” You ask. And again, I say, “Yes, better. What are you deaf?” Boxing is better off without Floyd Mayweather. No one seems to remember that before Mayweather fought De La Hoya he was almost booed out of the sport for being so boring. At Welterweight he is not an exciting fighter. Then when he retired analysts were suddenly clamoring for his return stating that there was a hole in boxing. There was hardly a hole. The only hole that existed was in Floyd’s bank account. You think he sold all of his cars because he suddenly developed an aversion towards decadence and flash? It’s called liquefying your assets.
With fights like (Rafael) Marquez/Vasquez, Pacquiao/Hatton, Pacquiao/(Juan Manuel) Marquez, Cotto/Margarito, Williams/Quintana, Berto/Collazo, Marquez/Diaz, Cotto/Clottey, Margarito/Mosely, Cintron/Angulo, Williams/Martinez, Hopkins/Pavlik, Taylor/Froch and not to mention the Super 6 tournament on Showtime, these have been two of the best years in boxing of recent times. And why? Because great fighters were fighting great opposition. The truth is that for all his brilliance inside the ring, Floyd Mayweather is bad for boxing. When someone with his talent and skills refuses to engage in great fights, fights that test his mettle and would secure his legacy while initiating others, then they are thumbing their nose and flipping off the sport and the boxing public that enabled their success in the first place.
Once Pacquiao fights Joshua Clottey on March 13, win or lose, he will have faced tougher opposition at Welterweight in less than one year than Mayweather has in four. And he will have done it without being a braggart or an insufferably obnoxious jerk. Floyd should be ashamed of himself. But he probably isn’t. Floyd should want to prove himself. But he probably won’t. Floyd should do this, Floyd should do that.
But what Floyd will do is verbally pot shot other fighters and make it seem as though he is the star attraction in boxing. He calls himself the greatest without facing great opposition. He points to his undefeated record and in the same breath, points to the blemishes on everyone else’s. He points to fighters losing to other fighters whom he has never faced and probably never will, which is a point Brian Kenny failed to impress upon his brash interviewee on ESPN. He’s searching for a March opponent? Fight Paul Williams!
The saddest aspect of Floyd Mayweather is that he could beat all of the top Welterweights. He would outbox Cotto, Clottey, Collazo, Berto and even Margarito. Many look to Sugar Shane Mosely as the man to shut Mayweather’s mouth, but Mosely gets dominated by technically proficient fighters (Winky Wright beat him, Vernon Forrest beat him and even De La Hoya was winning both fights until Mosely was able to goat him into a brawl). Paul Williams would not be an easy win and has probably the best chance to beat Mayweather, but at least he would be testing himself against another great fighter. Why Mayweather refuses to fight the best in the division is a mystery. He’s not a coward. He makes his profession as a fighter. If he were a coward he would never have chose boxing in the first place.
Sorry to disappoint you Floyd, but until you fight at least three top ten Welterweights your declarations of greatness are empty. Floyd Mayweather is, for me, like Sushi. The longer I go without it, the more appealing it becomes. Then when I have some I remember that it’s not worth the memory.
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