RingSide Report

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Floyd Mayweather, JR., Manny Pacquiao & Tiger Woods: Deception & TMZ

By Geno McGahee

TMZ & Athletes as Role Models

I see that TMZ has taken another hit at Floyd Mayweather, JR., presenting video of his family supposedly fleeing to the security after a violent rampage. Now, I want to make it clear that there aren’t many worse things than a woman beater and if Floyd is guilty of it, then he deserves to go to prison for it. But, I am certainly questioning TMZ and their coverage.

TMZ are a group of bottom feeders that enjoy broadcasting the worst and that is why we hear about Floyd beating his wife and assaulting a security guard. In a world of Jerry Springer and Steve Wilkos, TMZ fits right in, appealing to the negativity that our society seems to crave. It doesn’t make it right and it is certainly not fair to the subjects that they are exploiting.

A big problem is this entire “role model” idea with athletes. I often hear people come out and say how disappointed they are in athletes for misbehaving or doing something against their moral beliefs. Tiger Woods is a good example. Why his personal life merited such attention is beyond me, but everyone jumped all over it, and it was only a matter of time before the parents groups came out and voiced their disgust over the role model, Woods, and how he is disappointing his fans.

If you are for your children living vicariously through an athlete and aspiring to be an athlete, knowing that part of the game is walking around with a smile on your face to get endorsements, then it is your fault when the truth comes out and the smiling sports star isn’t what you hope he is. They are human. There is temptation and stress and they react in different ways.

I watched some random guy come out against Floyd, stating that he is a “father” and somehow Floyd being tied up in criminal activity has hurt his children. This “father” should have his children taken away if he relies on a boxer that he has never met and doesn’t know him to guide his them. “I think Floyd should…” is another comment heard from the man on the street that isn’t in Floyd’s position and should probably keep his mouth shut without knowing all of the facts.

Floyd should be left alone. If he is involved in a criminal matter, then let the police handle it and if he is guilty of wife beating, assault, attempted murder, or whatever new charge that is certain to come via TMZ or another useless rag, then let him go to prison where a criminal belongs.

The story that needs to be focused on is the boxing career of Mayweather, JR., or perhaps it should be ignored considering the inactivity. With Pacquiao-Mosley on the horizon, another five months will go by before we can even think about the big showdown, and the more time that elapses, the more likely it will be that the fight will never happen. Many fans have already given up. As an optimist, I’m still hoping for it. As great as Pacquiao is, there is still an argument to be made that he never had that defining fight. Some will argue Juan Manuel Marquez, but Marquez was never considered the best in the world. He is a great fighter, but Floyd is considered nearly unbeatable. No other fighter Manny has fought has come in with that sort of reputation. Floyd would also face the same sort of challenge. It would be the unstoppable force versus the immovable object, BUT we instead have the unstoppable force (Pacquiao) against the over the hill no hoper (Mosley) in a big mismatch. At one point, Mosley would have given Pacquiao hell and would have probably defeated him, but at this stage, with the diminished reflexes, it’s a nearly unwinnable fight for Sugar Shane.

So stay tuned into TMZ, but take everything that they say with a huge grain of salt. Negative press sells better than positive press and they understand that and that is how the show survives and currently Floyd Mayweather, JR., is one of their targets. Didn’t Floyd give out turkeys to impoverished families during the holidays? Did they report on that? Obviously not, because it doesn’t sell, but the woman-beater/attempted murderer gets the attention… TMZ is about as low as it gets.

Why Mosley? Why!!!

Sugar Shane Mosley, 46-6-1, 39 KO’s, is prepared to cash in on May 7th, as he faces Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao, 52-3-2, 38 KO’s, in Las Vegas. When you look at Pacquiao’s record and victories, it’s difficult not to be impressed, which makes his last few outings very frustrating, especially Margarito and Mosley.

Antonio Margarito is a mediocrity without loaded gloves as proven in his fights with Mosley and Pacquiao. When he has bricks attached to his fists, he is a force in the ring, but so would anybody else. He cheated his way to victories over Kermit Cintron and Miguel Cotto and tried to do the same with Mosley and got caught and then rewarded with one of the biggest paydays of his career against Pacquiao. I hoped that boxing would revolt against the PPV but it didn’t happen. The sport can be a train wreck and people like to watch a disaster like that happen, and therefore, the PPV didn’t do too badly.

So, if the people are going to support Margarito, why not support Mosley? The issue is that we have become accustomed to Pacquiao taking on the best available opponents and now we have him facing “name” opponents that have no chance of beating him.

Watch how timid and jittery Mosley was against Floyd and now times that by ten, and factor in the aggression and power of Pacquiao and what do you have? Back the ambulance up to the ring because we are going to need it. There are certain fights that make dollars but don’t make sense and here we are with Pacquiao – Mosley. It is a fight that will sell because most casual fans know Mosley. “He’s the guy that beat Oscar De La Hoya, right?”

They will show highlights of Mosley beating up several people, mostly from the 1990s, with a little bit of the Margarito fight mixed in, but the idea of him being competitive with Pacquiao at this point is laughable. It’s a bad fight and if Pacquiao is leaving the sport after a “couple more fights,” then that leaves one more after this one and that other one could be Ricardo Mayorga!

Mayorga is slated to face Miguel Cotto and Cotto is known for not having the best set of whiskers, leaving a puncher’s chance for Mayorga and if he lands it and wins, then he will certainly be in there with Manny in his next fight.

The term “responsibility” is thrown around in boxing. When a fighter reaches a certain status, he must be responsible to it, and since Manny is considered the pound for pound best by many, why are we seeing a fight with Mosley? I understand why Sergio Mora isn’t the selection. The guy is far too big and skilled, but there has to be better options than Sugar Shane.

The name “Manny Pacquiao” translates into large money for any boxer and that is why he is in such hot demand and that is why Mosley pursued the fight. Who knows what his financial status, but he is obviously hunting for money and has found it with Pacquiao, but it’s a misleading fight that will be even more deceptive as HBO does its 24/7 series on just how competitive it will be, but when the bell rings for round one, the cat will be out of the bag and we will have a beating on our hands.

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