By Babatis Banda: I have keenly read posts on this site for a while. I have also not only posted comments, but written a number of articles too. My attention was captured by some recent comments made by one blogger ‘Foreal’ that there is a tendency for very successful sports persons or personalities to self-destruct at some point. With reference to Floyd Maywhether Jnr, could this be true? He went on to argue that it seemed certain that he would self-destruct, not in the ring though, but outside of it. He seemed to make an argument that this tendency to self-destruct in the case of Floyd was a discipline issue rather than anything else.

It is difficult to say how correct or how wrong this assumption is, or how far it can be generalized. What is true though is that there are a number of successful sports men and women who have self-destructed, but equally, there is a good number that has not. In the case of Floyd, the argument is that he is arguably the most talented boxer of our era while his out of the ring antics have been more than less impressive. This has included a foul mouth, gambling, violence and several incidences that are criminal in nature. In my personal view, he could have already self-destructed if his current problems will lead him to jail. If at all he survives jail, Floyd has the ability of coming back and regaining his top slot in boxing without question. My personal view is that, skill wise, nobody can stand in his way…and not even Manny can, without being schooled in some way…. but again, is the current threat to self-destruct as a result of Manny? It is almost obvious that Floyd is incensed by Manny’s rise to star doom. He is angry with those pundits that have rushed to pile praise and pin accolades on the chest of the Filipino. The two have not been able to square it off in the ring for various reasons that are not only unbelievable, but definitely are driven partly, by two ‘stiff’ egos. I would have loved to think that insecurity could be Floyd’s problem, but again, why did he return from retirement and yet he is financially secure? Is it then, the spirit to self-destruct?…and does it suggest it would be in the ring?

My take is, just like ‘Foreal’ put it, that Floyd is relatively young, very wealthy and above all, a citizen of a country where anything goes. He is likely to fall into bad habits just like a lot of his other peers, but only that he is in the limelight. Few will mind when Floyd engages in trash- talk, after all, he has modeled a successful character as a villain that you either love to hate, or is it hate to love. For the pure boxing fan, he is a maestro second to none. We also need to realize that Floyd is not a ghetto type, he is not a rugs to riches situation, he grew up relatively well to do and privileged. Contrary Manny has a softer approach to life. He grew up in a humble environment were respect is a norm.

I have a strong feeling that, just like Mike Tyson, Floyd will self-destruct, but this destruction has nothing to do with his gifted abilities in the boxing ring because they are sublime.