Matthew Hurley: Although he was not in the corner for Oscar De La Hoya’s first failed attempt to put a loss on his son’s record, Floyd Mayweather Sr. continues to flout the skills of every trainer in the sport while endlessly stroking his own ego. The megalomaniacal elder Mayweather is slated to replace Oscar’s trainer Freddie Roach for the September rematch with Floyd Jr. but money issues have not yet been sorted out. Mayweather had demanded $2 million to train Oscar for the first fight back in May of 2007 but it was assumed that he had purposely priced himself out of the job to avoid the uncomfortable notion of training a fighter to knock out his son..
Whether the separation from De La Hoya was really about his son or if the stubborn former welterweight contender truly would take no less than two million dollars is open for debate, but Mayweather indeed believes that he is worth every penny he calls for. In fact, he believes that this rematch, a fight the majority of the boxing public could do without, will only approach the financial success of the first go-round if he is center stage.
“Another fight between them wouldn’t do anything like it did before without me in the corner,” Mayweather told reporter David Mayo. “It’s brother vs. brother, father vs. son. I’m not looking at it personally, or like a rivalry, but I know people are going to put it the way they want to put it, and that’s fine.”
The “brother vs. brother” motif alludes to Floyd’s brother Roger who trains Mayweather Jr. The bad blood that exists between Floyd Sr. and, apparently, everyone else in his extended family has become an on-going soap opera played out in the media and HBO’s 24/7 series to a now long-suffering public. Now that the fight is signed and Oscar has committed to a May 3rd tune-up bout boxing fans should prepare themselves for a deluge of Mayweather rants.
As to whether or not he will receive that coveted $2 million pay day from Oscar, Mayweather seems confident that the money is in the bank.
“We haven’t sat down and talked about money yet,” he said. “But as far as that goes, Oscar knows what I’m asking for.”
Twisting the familial knife in his son’s side one more time, senior added, “I’m not going to sit there and watch my son make all that money, while I make none. I did it once. It’s not going to happen again.”
It would seem Floyd Jr. is not the only Mayweather in the family entranced, deluded and perhaps corrupted by the all mighty buck. Apparently as long as there is cash in the mix Floyd Mayweather Sr. doesn’t care who he trains to punch his son in the mouth.
“I taught my son everything he knows,” he says, “but I didn’t teach him everything I know. I’m the one who created the style; I’m the one who can break the style. I know just how to open it up, believe me. If Oscar puts the right money on the table, I grant you it will be broken.”
Fair enough. But certainly not until the check clears.