By John F. McKenna (McJack): Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, who worked with boxing Super Star Floyd Mayweather Jr. (41-0, 25 KO’s) for ten years before an acrimonious split in 2006 now questions Floyd’s sanity.
There has never been any love lost between Arum and Mayweather, who even while they were working together had a contentious relationship. Both “Uncle” Bob and “Money” are used to doing things their own way and it was inevitable that sooner or later they would part company.
Floyd will be ending another of his lengthy self imposed exiles when he steps into the ring against WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz (29-2-2, 22 KO’s) on Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. It will be Floyd’s first fight since he fought Shane Mosley sixteen months ago in May 2010.
Mayweather’s recent behavior has been so irrational that Arum in a recent interview with Yahoo Sports questioned whether Floyd was “losing it.” Arum said that he was “astonished” at some of Mayweather’s recent rants.
“Floyd was never the easiest person to deal with, but he was a different person really to what I see now,” Arum said. “All you have to go on is what you see and hear about him and the way he goes about his life. But it’s very strange. It is completely bizarre some of these things that are going on. The things that are coming out of his mouth and the actions you hear about just don’t make sense. You just have to wonder where it is all coming from.
“You act a certain way and you are going to be judged on it. If you act like you are insane, that is what people are going to think. If you act responsibly and professionally, then people will treat you that way. I guess when you are dealing with Mayweather, you have to stop asking rational questions because maybe we are not dealing with a rational guy anymore. You just have to take it as it is.”
Arum was outraged years ago when Mayweather said he was being paid slave wages. Floyd’s refusal to take on Antonio Margarito was a further point of contention which helped to precipitate the split between Arum and Mayweather.
Floyd is now promoted by Golden Boy Promotions. Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer has referred to Mayweather as a marketing genius and a showman who can knows how to make people hate him so that they will pay money to see him lose. Schaefer also said that in private Floyd’s a great guy, who can become the showman at the flick of a switch.
Some of what Schaefer says may be true. But when millions of people see him going into a rant in which he belittles and hurls profanities at his own father it makes one wonder.
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