Is Floyd Mayweather bigger than Boxing?

By Jamie Eskdale: As the title suggests this article is about the current pound for pound number 1 Floyd Mayweather Junior.

This is an article I have been planning on writing for quite some time but have always refrained because of the sheer abundance of articles written about the man.

However with a lot of focus now being put on Manny Pacquiao I thought now would be the time to write.

People who have been following my more recent work will know me more for writing about corruption , bad judging and inept governing bodies out to line their own pockets at the expense of fans and fighters.

This is still my main angle and this article will tie into that in some ways.

Floyd Mayweather it seems is loved and loathed in equal measures, some people argue he has found the right balance between people tuning in and cheering him on and people tuning in hoping upon hope that finally he tastes defeat.

His fans will say he has taken on all comers, champions, former champions, undefeated fighters, young fighters, brawlers, boxers, boxer punchers. Every style you can imagine have been lined up and Mayweather has bowled them over.

His detractors see it differently. They argue Floyd has cherry picked his opponents at just the right time. Just past their best, before they hit their peak, not at their natural weight. You would have heard it all just the same as me.

All of this adds together to make something unique that has probably never been seen anywhere before and probably will never be seen again. Every fighter from lightweight up to middleweight it would seem see a Mayweather fight as their holy grail. The ultimate reward for a fighter to have at the end of his career. The money from fighting Mayweather would eclipse everything they’ve seen before and turn them into very wealthy young men.

Just about every fighter in these weight classes talks of it. Particularly in the junior welterweight and welterweight divisions.
Danny Garcia, Tim Bradley, Devon Alexander, Amir Khan to name but a few have all mentioned it after big wins ( apart from Khan obviously who hasn’t had a big win in a while) but you get the point. Hell even light heavyweight Bernard Hopkins was talking of fighting him.

Mayweather it would seem is a class above everyone else. Grouped on his own who everyone else aspires to beat.

It wasn’t always like this though. Up until little over a year ago Manny Pacquiao was mentioned in the same breath as Mayweather. Some people even had Pacquiao top of the mythical pound for pound list.

Pacquiao was cast as the hero. The peoples’ champion. In some peoples’ eyes he could no wrong. Fighting with a full country behind him and coming across in interviews as a humble guy.

Mayweather on the other hand was the villain. The flashy guy who boasted of his wealth. Flashed his money to the cameras. Drove about in flashy cars. Everything about the guy screamed money. Their styles were polar opposites too.

Mayweather systematically breaking guys down over a full fight with his boxing skills. Making really good fighters look silly and always seeming a cut above.

Pacquaio had the more explosive fan friendly style. Seeming to always go out looking for the knockout.

Their paths seemed destined to cross. Fans waited, excited.

Negotiations came and went with Pacquiao’s refusal to undergo Olympic style drug testing seeming to quash all hope of the fight happening. Even with all these goings on it still seemed inevitable that the fight would happen. Right up until Juan Manuel Marquez detonated a right hand on Pacquiao’s face in an horrific knockout.
With Pacquiao now seeming out of the picture Mayweather was now on a pedestal all on his own.

Now with Pacquiao back to winning ways with a lopsided points win over Brandon Rios Bob Arum was at it again talking up chances of the fight happening.

Which brings me back to the title of the article. Is Floyd Mayweather bigger than boxing?

Where else and in what other sport can the biggest star really dictate so much? Decide who his opponent is, Where the fight will take place, who will be conducting the drug testing, when the fight will take place? Nowhere that’s where.

And before anyone points out that other fighters choose all these things as well, I am quite aware but they don’t do so on the scale that Mayweather does with the kind of money involved and interest.

Now what I am trying to get at here is this. Should it not be down to a governing body to set up a structure of competition and work out who fights who and where. Which body takes care of drug testing. To set out reps to oversee training camps. Make sure champions stay active and fight mandatory challengers. Fighters can’t just move up weights to avoid challenges. Make some sort of system in place for graduating into another weight class?

All simple ideas I’m sure you will agree but simple ideas that could make a difference all the same.

Obviously we need an overhaul, badly. What we need is one body running the game from top to bottom. Even allowing for the 4 major bodies to run within the structure with 1 belt each per weight class could theoretically work.

Nobody is doubting that we still see good big fights but we could be seeing more, a lot more. And without the controversy that is happening now even more than ever.

Make a strike system for judges and referees. 1 a warning, 2 retraining and 3 banished.

This all may sound over the top but believe me it’s not, change is needed and quick.

Until wee see change we will continually have the situation where 1 or 2 guys are the cream of the crop and dictating the full show and everyone else has to toe the line.

Until then all roads will indeed lead to Mayweather.