Mayweather: “I want to thank God, Michael Jordan, and Nike”

19.11.05 – By Geoffrey Ciani: “I want to thank God, Michael Jordan and Nike.” These were the words spoken by pound-for-pound king, Floyd Mayweather, Jr, after he disposed of Sharmba Mitchell in round six of their scheduled twelve rounder on Saturday night. Or maybe he didn’t say that, but he did say something like that; I don’t remember exactly what he said. But what I do know is that when Mayweather thanked “God”, “Nike”, and “Michael Jordan” after his victory, it brought a big smile to my face. After all, Floyd Mayweather is the best in boxing.

This was Mayweather’s debut fight in the welterweight division, and he looked damned good. Mitchell was basically outclassed from the opening bell. Mayweather clearly won the first round, dominating with his tremendous speed, defensive prowess, and precision punching. The second round was a little closer, but Mayweather still proved the better man.

Mayweather dropped Mitchell in the third round, and again in the sixth, which prompted the end of the bout. Mayweather controlled the fight with relative ease throughout most of the fight. The final punch was an absolutely brutal body shot, delivered perfectly by Mayweather. To be fair, Mitchell gave it his all, but as is the case against most of his opponents, that isn’t nearly enough when facing an elite athlete of Mayweather’s caliber.

Mayweather is clearly the best boxer in the game today. Perhaps an argument can be made for ‘Winky’ Wright, but it would be a weak argument; nobody is capable of commanding the boxing ring like Floyd Mayweather – at least not these days. However, despite being the best of the bunch in the sweet science, Mayweather is largely unknown to the casual fan. He lacks charisma, and he simply doesn’t possess the appeal of an Oscar De La Hoya, a Felix Trinidad, or even a Roy Jones, Jr. It was sad to look around the ring as the HBO commentators made note of the large number of empty seats at the venue. The best boxer in the world was fighting, and nobody seemed to care. They couldn’t even fill the arena.

How could there be so many empty seats at an event featuring boxing’s most talented pugilist?

The answer is, Floyd Mayweather simply isn’t a big draw, and he has nobody to blame but himself. He lacks charisma, he comes across as arrogant and pompous, and he doesn’t do things that will help generate more interest amongst fans. The sad thing is, Floyd probably could generate a huge fan base. He has immense talent, and may very well be one of the best to over lace up the gloves.

Mayweather is still young, so he has time to change things. Someone with his magnitude of talent can surely become the sport’s biggest star, but Mayweather needs to do the things necessary to make it happen. However, at present, he either seems reluctant to do these things, incapable of doing these things, or he just doesn’t care. Either way, it’s a shame, because he has the talent to help give the sport a much needed boost.

In order for Mayweather to achieve this level, he needs to start making the big fights happen soon. It’s not worth waiting! Mayweather cannot be concerned about paychecks – he should be fighting big name fighters for whatever he can get. If he beats enough of them, the big days will be sure to follow, but in order to secure these big pay days, he needs to become more appealing to the fans. The fact of the matter is, for all of his talent and all of his ability, people simply aren’t interested in Mayweather.

People are still more interested in fighters who are past their best, because they have character. Fighters like De La Hoya, Barrera, Jones, and even guys like Mosley and Tyson are still more appealing to the average fan. This is a shame, because with the possible exception of Barrera, the rest of these fighters are all long past their best. Mayweather, however, appears to be right in the midst of his prime. Floyd lacks character!

Don’t get me wrong, here — Mayweather is an outstanding fighter, no doubt about it. However, I hope he does something to change his image before it’s too late, because it really is sad that the general public doesn’t give a shit about one of the best boxers in the world.

To read more articles by this author, please visit The Mushroom Mag:

www.eatthemushroom.com

To contact this author:

geoff@eatthemushroom.com