Originally posted by edgarg
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Mayweather may be right....but he also may be wrong. It's an undeniable fact that for most of his career he couldn't even half fill a 4,000 seat arena. I'm not sure but I think only a fight or three before the Oscar fight, he was a zero draw.
His strong point was always his mouth, not his boxing expertise, no matter how skilled he is, and he very carefully picked as his opponents only those he felt certain he'd beat.
I recall very well his fight with Diego Corrales, which actually brought him to my attention, as well as to the attention of the boxing public. I saw immediately his reason for fighting Corrales, who, it should be known, was the favourite to beat him. The average fight fan is not aware, but Mayweather very carefully set the stage for this fight. He chose Corrales, nearly 6 ft.tall, who had already left the 130 lb. division, and was walking around at about 150 or more, was in desperate trouble with the Law, was penniless and thirsty for money to pay his legal expenses, had a very bad matrimonial situation, and actually was due to go to jail for 2 years immediately after the fight.
Corrales, being questioned about his weight problems, when asked why he'd take such an unsuitable fight, said that "he made me an offer I couldn't refuse". He spent his training time in just trying to shed the weight, was overweight on the first weigh in, and had spent most of the previous day in a sweat box. As T.K. Stewart wrote, "when I saw Corrales, his skin grey, every rib showing, and looking like death, could hardly stand, I knew right away he had no chance of winning" (paraphrasing).
Later, Larry Merchant was talking about having seen Corrales in his dressing room, just before the fight, stuffing down a huge hamburger.
The point I'm making is that Mayweather will NEVER make a fight with anyone he is not certain, for whatever reason (which of course is not known to the casual fan) of winning and he's pretty good at prognosticating.
Oscar used to do the same thing, but not as well, so he often lost fights he was sure he'd win. So....Mayweather should be a sure thing, if you want to win some betting money.
With all the talk about the $600,000 that he forfeited, it guaranteed him a certian win, even without all the other advantages, and he could have backed himself to win to make that money back. However, compared to his purse and PPV, it was only a "fleabite", in exchange for a 100% guaranteed win. Smart guy.
His strong point was always his mouth, not his boxing expertise, no matter how skilled he is, and he very carefully picked as his opponents only those he felt certain he'd beat.
I recall very well his fight with Diego Corrales, which actually brought him to my attention, as well as to the attention of the boxing public. I saw immediately his reason for fighting Corrales, who, it should be known, was the favourite to beat him. The average fight fan is not aware, but Mayweather very carefully set the stage for this fight. He chose Corrales, nearly 6 ft.tall, who had already left the 130 lb. division, and was walking around at about 150 or more, was in desperate trouble with the Law, was penniless and thirsty for money to pay his legal expenses, had a very bad matrimonial situation, and actually was due to go to jail for 2 years immediately after the fight.
Corrales, being questioned about his weight problems, when asked why he'd take such an unsuitable fight, said that "he made me an offer I couldn't refuse". He spent his training time in just trying to shed the weight, was overweight on the first weigh in, and had spent most of the previous day in a sweat box. As T.K. Stewart wrote, "when I saw Corrales, his skin grey, every rib showing, and looking like death, could hardly stand, I knew right away he had no chance of winning" (paraphrasing).
Later, Larry Merchant was talking about having seen Corrales in his dressing room, just before the fight, stuffing down a huge hamburger.
The point I'm making is that Mayweather will NEVER make a fight with anyone he is not certain, for whatever reason (which of course is not known to the casual fan) of winning and he's pretty good at prognosticating.
Oscar used to do the same thing, but not as well, so he often lost fights he was sure he'd win. So....Mayweather should be a sure thing, if you want to win some betting money.
With all the talk about the $600,000 that he forfeited, it guaranteed him a certian win, even without all the other advantages, and he could have backed himself to win to make that money back. However, compared to his purse and PPV, it was only a "fleabite", in exchange for a 100% guaranteed win. Smart guy.
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