I was sitting in the Wild Card Boxing Club the other day, waiting to interview various fighters and watching some solid sparring with a friend of mine named James, talking all things boxing in general and Mayweather/Pacquiao in particular when James said something that hadn’t occurred to me.
“Floyd’s scared,” he said. “Sr. sat in the corner, ringside, and watched Manny destroy his fighter in two rounds. He heard that punch up close and he knew his son was in for a rough night. Floyd can’t handle that kind of pressure.”
Now on TV and even from my seat on press row, that punch had serious impact. But it’s a whole different game up close near the ring apron. That punch must’ve been brutally loud as it cracked Hatton’s chin and put him on “I can’t feel my brain” street. It was only after that fight, one where Floyd Sr. wrote a check with his mouth that he was nowhere near able to cash, that Floyd Sr. began saying Pacquiao must be on the juice.
“Sr is being a dad,” James said. “He’s protecting his son.”
Makes some sense if you think about it.
I remember playing Monopoly with my brothers as a very young boy, around six or so, and saying “You must be cheating because I’m losing.” In a way, Floyd is saying that Manny must be cheating because only he is the best fighter in the world. Only he can be the face of boxing. “The President of boxing.” But it says here that “No, Floyd. You’re just a very good fighter with a long track record of avoiding tough fights in favor of ones you can win.” Floyd played a game of chicken with Manny by going public with the blood testing clause in the contract. It was a cheap attempt to make a man bend to his will or suffer the consequences in the court of public opinion. Now, instead of making 40 million, he may lose some money in a real court of law.
So who is to blame?
Floyd Mayweather’s advisor, Leonard Ellerbe, claims all Floyd wants is a level playing field and thus has called for random blood testing throughout training camp leading up to this fight. Which begs the question: why now? Was the Juan Manuel Marquez on a level playing field? Marquez was older, fighting 12 pounds above his last fight’s weight class; a class where he showed all the signs of aging and ring wear, was slower and not known to be a one punch KO artist but more of a pinpoint counter puncher who would wear you down over the course of fight. Was it a level playing field against a fighter who had moved up to 154 pounds and beaten a top five junior middle named Oscar De La Hoya? Why wasn’t this need for random blood testing implemented then? Maybe because the matchmaking favored Floyd so much that Marquez could have been drinking Barry Bonds’ steroid era urine samples instead of his own fresh urine and it wouldn’t have made a difference? Was it a level playing field when Floyd had Ricky Hatton, a fighter who admitted before and after the fight that he was not very good as a 147 pound fighter, move to welterweight? You be the judge.
The point being: since when did Floyd care about a level playing field? Since when did he become a boxing reformer or even care about boxing as anything more than a hustle to make money in? Has he been giving the fans every or any fight they have wanted in the last five years? No he hasn’t.
Floyd had so much clout in the sport as it’s number one fighter after the Oscar and Hatton fights, he could have made a much greater statement and shown he was legit by doing two things before his brief retirement.
Announce he was leaving the sport until certain changes were made. One being this need for random blood testing.
As the head of Mayweather Promotions, he could have announced that his entire roster would set a new standard for the sport by utilizing a new level of blood testing never before seen at the pro level to prove all MP fighters fight clean.
But he didn’t do that. He cried and he whined about how hard the sport that gave him millions for fights the fans didn’t want was. He told us how great he is and how no one respected him and that it was over. As always, it was all about him and not really about boxing.
Until now. Until the biggest fight the sport had seen in possibly decades. The best fighter vs. the best boxer. Both in their primes with common opponents and everyone agreeing one of them was the best in the world. Why? Why make the statement now?
Is he scared? Maybe. Is he jealous of the fact that Manny and he have common opponents, who he beat first (except Marquez) and yet Manny looked better doing it and seemingly got much more love from the fansin the process? Possibly.
Me? I think Floyd played chicken and lost. He tried to put Manny in a position he could not get out of: agree to the test or look like a cheater. In the process of underestimating Pacquiao, he put himself in a worse position: If Floyd backed off his demands completely, he would lose face in front of the whole world and really, lose the first great battle between the fighters. Floyd drew a line in the sand he couldn’t erase.
To me this all illustrates the big difference between Manny and Floyd. Floyd comes from a rough city but has been treated like a special athlete his whole life. He was raised to be this. Manny grew up on the hard streets of the Philippines. He had to become this to survive. Two very different backgrounds and mindsets. Manny just might be a kind of tough that Floyd has never encountered. This first battle has shown that Manny can’t be intimidated nor dictated to. You can argue that Manny must be guilty because he won’t get blood tested per Floyd’s demands. I say Manny won’t be dictated to by Floyd or anyone else.
I have no idea if Manny Pacquiao is a dirty fighter. There is no evidence to suggest he is at this moment; just the spark of accusations from Floyd Sr, some insinuations by Team Mayweather and Manny’s unwillingness to kowtow to a Floyd, Jr.
That’s not enough for me to convict him of anything.
As for walking away from 40 million dollars, you have to understand that from the moment they began talking about a fight together, Manny and Floyd began fighting. Each side wants leverage one way or the other. These are two great fighters with great fighter egos. No one is looking to back down. Floyd threw a low blow here and some fans and media ran with it. I think Manny is showing incredible strength of character. Sure, he could be hiding something. Rafael Palmeiro looked into the cameras and said he had never taken steroids and everyone believed him until he came up dirty. But right now, Manny is innocent until proven guilty.
What will be interesting going forward is how the commissions across the country react. A Pacquiao fight brings huge money to the local economies. Will they risk losing a fight with him in it by upgrading their outdated testing procedures? No question they need to catch up to the ever changing world of performance enhancing drugs. This could be a watershed moment in boxing.
Right now, I am not wondering about Manny so much. But say the commissions adopt a random blood testing system and Manny says screw it and retires, then speculation will be justified. Right now, it just reads like jealous g****s and bad negotiating from Floyd.
Back to the 40 mil, Manny can afford to walk away from the payday. He’ll make his 10-14 mil elsewhere for sure. Floyd is the one who needs this cash. 40 million will go a long way to easing his financial bleeding. A rematch would be even better for him. As it stands, without Pacquiao, he is going to have to fight someone tough to get that kind of cash. He’s run out of soft touches. It’s why even though the fight is off the table as far as Team Pacquiao, Ellerbe says "We’re still hopeful we can make a deal. We’re not talking about anyone but Manny Pacquiao." Manny Pacquaio” which is a big turnaround from Floyd’s pre-Marquez stances of “He’s a good little fighter” and “People forget Manny Pacquiao has three losses and has been knocked out before” or even better “I don’t chase fighters. Fighters chase me. I says what goes in boxing.” Apparently not.
Floyd needs that 40 mil. Manny doesn’t. Simple as that. Bluff called. Fight over.
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Makes sense.
Floyd and his posse are still ****s.
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