For the majority of the public, Floyd Mayweather Jr. is the boxing anti-hero they love to hate. He has been demonized from Manchester, England, to Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, to Quezon City in the Philippines. In the last twenty years or so, only Mike Tyson has had a comparable boo-to-dollar ratio. At turns petulant, shrewd, boastful, delusional, obnoxious, and witty, Mayweather Jr. is the poster boy for negative appeal. Equal parts Falstaff, Yellow Kid, and Narcissus, Mayweather Jr. has earned his box office status by mastering the art of cartoon villainy. Whether or not the windbag persona is an act hardly matters; in a reality television culture where tastelessness is often confused with personality, Mayweather Jr. has thrived by virtue of being the only boxer in the world people scorn enough to pay to see. For his part, Mayweather Jr. keeps up the act with a strange form of trash talking that is a combination of fear, bombast, lunacy, delusions of grandeur, anger, circumstantiality, threat, braggadocio, word salad, chutzpah, and contempt.
With the specter of Manny Pacquiao looming above him, Mayweather Jr. has taken his rants to a new level over the last few months, deluging the world with one excuse after another for not fighting some of the top fighters in the welterweight division, namely Manny Pacquiao. What makes Mayweather Jr. say so many outlandish things? Is it malice? Is it pathological? Is it mischief? Is it vindictiveness—toward Bob Arum? Is it insecurity, as so many task chair psychologists claim between emoticons? And just why would Mayweather Jr. slight a potential gold mine bout with Pacquiao?
There are several possible answers to these questions, of course, but the choices can be narrowed to a few obvious—and possibly ironic—ones. First, strangely enough, is money. Two months ago Mayweather Jr. earned an obscene amount of lettuce to use Juan Manuel Marquez, at best an inflated lightweight, as target practice, and he stands to make outrageous fortunes every time he steps into the ring. More importantly, as a bona fide star, Mayweather Jr. can cash seven figure checks against any prizefighter in the world, be it tomato can, lightweight, or a combination of both. This, ultimately, is what makes him so reluctant to mix it up with some of the more dangerous men in the welterweight division: He has a good hustle going on, why risk it? (By the way, this scheme is nothing new in boxing. Greats like Jack Dempsey and Jack Johnson participated in some dubious bouts, and Floyd Patterson had one of the most comical reigns in boxing history. Included among his title defenses was a bout with Pete Rademacher, a fighter making his pro debut against the heavyweight champion of the world.) In addition, for HBO, the biggest player in boxing, the words “money for nothing” are as sacrosanct as the Tennis Court Oath was to budding French revolutionists. So, why should Floyd Mayweather Jr. risk his racket?
First of all, Mayweather is on the record as viewing Pacquiao as a no-risk proposition. By his own strange calculations, probably arrived at with the aid of an abacus missing 90% of its beads, Pacquiao is an “easy” fight. If Pacquiao cannot beat him and the money is astronomical and he can quiet his critics by defeating the best fighter in the world, why the hesitation? In general, professional boxers do not fear each other. Although there have been occasions throughout history when opponents have been petrified–King Levinksy against Joe Louis, Johnny Paycheck against Joe Louis, Alex Stewart against Mike Tyson–this conceit is blogosphere gibberish. This brings us to the second strange reason for Mayweather dithering about potentially cashing the biggest paycheck he has ever seen. Professional jealousy might be the answer to why Mayweather Jr. has avoided Pacquiao. In short–and this may seem paradoxical–it might be ego keeping Mayweather Jr. from immediately accepting a bout with Pacquiao.
Few sports figures are as hot as Manny Pacquiao is right now, and every time he fights, Pacquiao pulls the rug out from under Mayweather Jr. It is Pacquiao who made De La Hoya quit on his stool; it is Pacquiao who left Ricky Hatton unconscious in Las Vegas, it is Pacquiao who is willing to trade punches with quality fighters over and over. The latest news is that Pacquiao-Cotto pulled in bigger pay-per-view numbers than Mayweather-Marquez. Mayweather Jr. has been overshadowed by Pacquiao at every turn and now his ego is bruised beyond recognition. Even outside the ring Pacquiao is beginning to catch up with “Money.” Mayweather Jr. may have been featured on the Chelsea Lately Show, Dancing With the Stars and The George Lopez Show, but Manny Pacquiao has been featured in Time Magazine and The New York Times recently, and he was also a guest on Late Night with Jimmy Kimmel. Of course, no boxer in the world can compete with his status as an icon in the Philippines. In the United States, “Pacman” fever is also taking hold and this might be something Mayweather Jr. views with bitterness. Call it status envy if you will.
By giving Pacquiao a chance to fight him—and thereby a chance to beat him—Floyd Mayweather Jr. would be directly contributing to his own eclipse. Pacquiao can only get bigger at his own expense. On separate tracks, Mayweather can still look good against softer opposition and woof on about his royal status in boxing, especially if the public continues to pay to see him. Otherwise, it makes no sense for Mayweather Jr. to downplay what might turn out to be one of the biggest events in the history of boxing, especially if Mayweather views Pacquiao as easy pickings.
Contentious negations will now begin, and some are already predicting that Mayweather Jr., like Houdini, will find some sort of escape from a fight with Pacquiao. It seems unlikely that Mayweather Jr. will be able to turn down 25-30 million dollars–and perhaps more for a rematch–but when the ego is at the wheel, no one can ever be certain.
Tags: Boxing, Circumstantiality, Ego, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Floyd Patterson, Manny Pacquiao, Status Envy, Weltrweights, Word Sald
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