People are always quick to deride Floyd Mayweather because of his antics. What Floyd’s detractors fail to realize is that those same antics helped him become one of the most successful boxers our generation has seen. Mayweather is a savvy businessman who knows how to work the system to his benefit. Latest example of this came when he was asked about the status of the Manny Pacquiao fight. He was hanging out with a kid from the Make-a-Wish foundation when this issue came up. You can watch the video in its entirety above to get his full response. In a nutshell, he claims he doesn’t know the status of the negotiations. He then adds — and this is what’s got everyone’s panties in a bunch — that he’s taking a couple years off from boxing. Now the media going cuckoo bananas over Floyd Mayweather’s “retirement” announcement. What retirement? If Floyd Mayweather Jr. was going to retire from boxing, you think he’d do it casually in a blurry YouTube video?
Floyd is clearly working the media for his own selfish purpose. He’s now all over the web and TV, with people labeling him the ultimate coward for ducking Pacquiao and opting for retirement instead. More like the ultimate businessman. This is exactly what Mayweather was going for. Of course, the fight is still being secretly negotiated.
Mayweather vs Pacquiao will happen…hopefully before these guys turn 40. All great fights take time to materialize. Ali-Frazier was delayed for a while. And so was Leonard-Hearns. The fact that we haven’t heard much about the negotiations is very much a positive indication of the fight’s likelihood. Neither party is allowed to discuss it, so Floyd leans on a diversion that ends up generating publicity for the fight. And that’s the larger problem here. Both sides continue to drum up gimmicks for a fight that doesn’t need any more publicity. Next we’ll hear that Pacquiao is taking a year off to run for Prime Minister. The public craves this thing, so let’s get on with it already. 1.4 million people paid to see Mayweather destroy Mosley. Over 700,000 fans paid to watch Pacquiao annihilate Clottey. And both fights were boring. Imagine how many people would love nothing more than to see the two pound-for-pound kings battle. Stop with the games and get in the ring already.
