Leave FLOYD alone!!! (In defense of Mayweather)
The following is an excerpt from an article written by Mr. Eric Raskin of RING Magazine. I am using this excerpt (albeit without his permission) to show the ridiculous nature of the way that Floyd Mayweather Jr. is expected to be, act, fight, etc. We are so hungry for one fighter to “save” the sport that when we have a spectacular talent like Floyd and he doesn’t fight every conceivable fighter in the WORLD, we jump all over them for being “too cautious”. With apologies to Mr. Raskin and RING, here we go:
He (Mayweather) has fighters out there who can play Duran, Hearns and Benitez to his Leonard. The question is whether he wants to play Leonard.
He has fighters out there who can be the Trinidad, Whitaker and Quartey to his De La Hoya. The question is whether he wants to be De La Hoya.
Maybe he’s satisfied being the B side to De La Hoya on pay-per-view instead. But if he wants to actually be the Golden Boy of this new welterweight golden age, he’s sadly mistaken if he thinks beating the man makes him the man.
Eric Raskin is a contributing editor and former managing editor of The Ring magazine.
**Now then (Chris again). . . Mr. Raskin’s writing makes my skin crawl. It really upsets me to read that Floyd is “ducking real challenges” or “not fighting the best fighters out there”. And before I write any more, let me make one thing clear. I don’t really like Floyd Mayweather Jr. He’s arrogant, he’s full of himself, and he’s probably everything wrong with the IMAGE of boxing (extravagance, money-flashing, leather trunks, overexposure, etc.), but that has NOTHING to do with his skills and record.
Floyd has fought EVERYONE put in front of him, and has BEATEN everyone he’s fought. He’s knocked out men that had never been KO’d (Corrales and Hatton), he’s disgraced prime, killer knockout artists (Castillo and Judah), and he’s even beaten superstars who wore the “fighter” hat as well as the “promoter” hat (Oscar). Not only did he beat Oscar, but he beat him soundly, on Cinco de Mayo, to record PPV numbers.
To list the men that Floyd has fought and beaten is getting tiring. I go back to my question to him at the Floyd-Hatton press conference in Grand Rapids last year. I asked him how he felt about fighting the best fighter in all of England. He summed it up by explaining that Corrales was supposed to be the best Puerto Rican-heritage fighter in the world. Castillo was supposed to be the best Mexican fighter at the time. Judah was supposed to have the speed to hang with him. Oscar’s size and experience were supposed to get the better of him. Why would Hatton be any different?
I hate that he’s right. I kinda wish he wasn’t right. But right is right. Floyd has beaten everyone. True, he has moved up to welter, and there are other fighters in this division that I’d love to see him fight. But he’ll beat them (if they ever fight). He’s Floyd, and he doesn’t lose. But saying that he “needs to fight them to be great like Leonard or Oscar” is both sad and wrong. Floyd’s in position to transcend both of these legends, because neither of them fought their whole career perfectly. I’m not a Floyd fan, but facts are facts.
***Chris Guzman has hosted The Bolo Punch Boxing Hour since 2002.
