By Giancarlo Malinconico: With unconditional supporters in media like David Mayo of the Grand Rapids Press, who has almost become the personal spokesman of Floyd Mayweather’s camp, and Tim Smith of the Daily News, who never has anything critical to say about Floyd Jr., are people really surprised that Mayweather has been able to, with minimal scrutiny, duck the biggest bout in boxing history with the Fighter-of-the-Decade Award Winner and the current Ring Pound-for-Pound Best fighter in the world Manny Pacquiao?
Mayweather claims he is the greatest boxer of all-time, but how can anyone, besides Mayo and Smith, take that claim serious when Mayweather is avoiding a bout with Pacquiao? Mayweather was, in my estimation, granted too much credit for defeating Shane Mosley who was the “linear” welterweight champ after defeating Antonio Margarito in a bout in which Margarito was caught, before the bout, attempting to load his hand wraps with a plaster-like object. And after watching Margarito’s last bout in Mexico, it is clear that his punching power left his hands as soon as the plaster did because he was back-peddling all night against the mediocre fighter he faced in Mexico, as he did in the Mosley bout. (Expect Pacquiao to destroy Margarito in November.)
Before Mosley faced Margarito, Shane was struggling, for much of the bout, against a washed up Ricardo Mayorga. Yes, Mosley was the “linear” champion at welterweight when he faced Floyd, but he was also 38-years old and coming off a 15-month lay off after defeating a fighter who appeared to be diminished after he was caught cheating. But that did not stop Yahoo Sports (which is not the Ring Magazine or a serious authority in the sport of boxing) and other boxing news sites in the media from overstating the significance of Mayweather’s dominate victory against Shane despite two scares in the second round of the bout.
Recently, the Mayweather camp and Golden Boy Promotions were caught making alleged contradicting statements regarding alleged negotiations for a potential bout with Pacquiao in late 2010 by Ross Greenberg, the President of HBO, probably because Mayweather needed a new excuse in light of that fact that Pacquiao had agreed to the 14-day cut off point for random blood testing that Floyd had initially proposed earlier this year — the major disagreement between the parties. Ironically, however, the excuse of having never negotiated with Pacquiao, appears to be the worst excuse that Mayweather’s camp could have come up with for not attempting to stage the biggest in boxing history. Even worse than blaming the failed negotiations on a disagreement of one of the terms — by stating that negotiations did not take place at all demonstrates that Mayweather, who considers himself the greatest off all-time, did not try to work out a bout with best fighter of his era. Could anyone imagine fighters who fought the best their era had to offer, including, Ali, Marciano, or Ray Robinson, doing that?
It appears that Floyd has no problem being the second best fighter of his era behind the Pac Man because he is not “desperate” to accept a real challenge and a bout not with an undersized Juan Manuel Marquez who he fought when he was in his mid-30s, and whom Floyd can weigh two pounds over the limit against without paying a hefty fine. Pacquiao is nothing like the old Oscar De La Hoya or Mosley who Floyd has faced. And it is ironic that the fighter who calls himself “Money” is not “desperate” to receive the biggest pay day in boxing history in a bout that, if he were victorious in, would clearly prove that he was the best of his era and one of the greatest of all-time.
The media is a powerful element of the sports world that can speak for the people, and it can demand that Mayweather battle Pacquiao, if he is going to continue to fight, rather than continue to face more inferior competition in his place. But with writers like Mayo, Smith, and many more who will continue to defend Mayweather unconditionally, is anyone surprised that Floyd is not “desperate” to take on the Pac Man? Why does Mayweather have to compete in the biggest challenge of his career in the ring when he has members of the media fighting his public-relation battles for him outside of it?
(Contact this writer @ GNMalinconico@aol.com or GiancarloNM@aol.com.)
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