Floyd Mayweather JR: The Manny Pacquiao Demand
By Manoj Bhat
Why has Floyd Mayweather become one of the most despised athletes in modern sports? Why has this unbeaten talented pugilist taken a tumble from being the pride of the fans to a shame? On the surface, nothing much has changed for Floyd. He is still unbeaten, still physically fit and strong, still brash and unabated. However what has changed cannot meet the eye. Deep down in the precincts of his mind, Floyd is not the same. The boxer has lost it and though many fans would not want to hear this, the super fight that the world has been waiting for years now may never – never actually happen.
Floyd has shrunk his thoughts. From the mind of a champ who would dare to bring on the best, Floyd is talking about smaller and smaller things. Before you read on, let us get a little flash back of what had happened in recent past to clarify this point and recall some of the statements attributed to him, “All I want him to do is to take the test,” “All I want is the American people to stand behind me,” “All I want is to clean up the sport of Boxing,” “All I want is that I should get the bigger purse,” “All I want is that people should see how Pacquiao lost his fights,” and above all the top of the charts, “All I want is a 100 million dollars”.
One cannot help but feel sad for Floyd. As we can see, his requests are so small. Manny should take the test – this is such a small point that one fails to understand why there should be any issue at all!! As far as the request for the American people to stand by his side is concerned – this is automatic for a talented boxer of Floyd Mayweather Junior’s stature. He has dedicated his life for the betterment of the American people and as he puts it fought in Red, white and Blue. “Our country is a great country, its a clean country”. He has always put the country above himself and recognized the fact that it is the poor man who watches him that actually helps him put his kids in school. Throughout his life as a professional, FMJ has always respected the American values. Most of the money earned by this talented boxer has been spent in the uplifting of the poor people living in poverty in America and today the time has come for those people to stand up besides their benevolent icon. He has never flashed his money to show the poor American down, it’s only the poor who envy Floyd for having so much. Will these guys ever understand that Floyd is now going to contribute an additional USD 3.4 million for the government treasury? How much more patriotism must our champ prove to the American public to get their support? The common man just doesn’t have the wisdom to understand – Not Floyd’s fault, is it?
The campaign that Floyd has started for cleaning up the sport is such a noble cause and its a pity that they don’t have a Nobel prize for clean ups. There is no reason why every sportsman doesn’t wish to clean up his sport. However what is debatable is whether it should be limited to only one person. As far as my memory goes, Floyd never asked any other boxer for such tests before Manny came on the scene. His testing of Shane Moseley was justified as Moseley had admitted taking drugs. Anyway, it is always better late than never. Considering the huge contribution that FMJ has made to boxing as a sport by putting his divine feet in the four cornered ring, it is only natural that Floyd should clean up the sport. Did we not hear that boxing is alive because of Floyd Mayweather? The man is purity at its sublime best – an open book character to the extent that when he injects the pain killers in his hands, he makes sure to record and let the people know. And mind you these are not drugs. Drugs are what you can buy in the street stores in Philippines. Such credibility and integrity has been unforeseen in boxing and Floyd deserves to be appreciated for the same.
Who should get the bigger purse? This is the question everyone would love to ask. Floyd has had a great career. His wins against some of the strongest opponents have been classical. His PPV’s have been more than any other boxer in the last decade and his star appeal is unquestionable. It is stupid to think that when Floyd fought De La Hoya, people came to see DLH. In his fight with Shane Moseley, there was hardly anyone in the audience who wished to see Moseley’s face. It was always about Floyd and when he is in the ring, it doesn’t matter who the other person is. In fact it doesn’t matter if there is an opponent at all. He is so popular that he could sell a million PPV’s only for shadow boxing. It is unfortunate that people don’t recognize this appeal. In any case the loss is for those who don’t realize this and so let it be. Floyd should get at least 90 percent of the purse. Honestly, the people who read this and think I am joking need to understand that Boxers do not get health insurance for the damage done in the ring as it is voluntary risk taken and Floyd will need every penny to get back on feet after a bout with Manny. Come on guys, this is a genuine demand and such small requests must be accepted.
The twitters and the YouTube’s apart, Floyd wants the American public to see how Manny lost his fights. Did Manny ever win a fight???? Sorry for not being supported by my memory but in any case that doesn’t matter. Manny always fought those fighters that had been softened by Floyd in the first case, and that is what is going to happen on May 7th as well. Manny has been following him and it is the greatness of Floyd Mayweather that he hasn’t handed Manny’s 4th loss to him. This guy is so considerate that he would prefer to beat his own wife who had an unbeaten record rather than beat a guy like Manny who has already been beaten thrice. Such graciousness has been unfortunately not accepted properly by the boxing fans who in any case know little about the true champion that Floyd is. Floyd has always kept his life very private and is an example for all the young people taking boxing as a sport. This guy is chivalry at its best. Never beat a beaten man – an unbeaten woman is better than a beaten man.
The top of the charts – “All I want is a 100 million dollars” for the fight with Manny Pacquiao. Don’t you guys understand that America is going through a recession???? Forget the fight and let everyone in this country go to work. This small request from our champion is something that is aimed only to expose the fragility of people like Bob Arum and Don King or anyone who dares to think of making this fight. How could these guys get to open their mouths when they don’t have even a 100 million in their banks – an amount that our champ keeps in his pockets for change? Floyd is rich, actually he is born rich and he need not raise a finger to earn. With his popularity and celebrity status, companies like Adidas and Nike and thousands of others line up to sign him and he gets more money in a 2 week promo than anyone else gets for a 2 year contract. The small request for a hundred million dollars for the bout is just to check if the people who are talking to Floyd are actually worth talking to. The champ has to maintain his reputation in public and must talk to only people of his stature. The 100 million talk is just to check if these guys are really blue blood like Floyd is or if interactions with them would only result in degrading our unbeaten champ. Another reason of course for the 100 million is very patriotic. The number is to ensure that the government gets enough taxes from this bout so that the recession can be over. All this Floyd is doing for the same country that is not supporting this ideal citizen.
Floyd has been misunderstood by his fans, foes and fraternity alike. It is sad that even the journalists have started taking a dig at him every now and then and their jealousy and lack of intelligence has been spread as miles of ink on paper that could have saved millions of trees. Where a sincere effort to understand this great champion would have saved all this, it would also have enabled people to appreciate the true compassion that Floyd has for Manny so as not to hurt him anymore. Believe it or not, while Manny is preparing for the fight with Moseley, Floyd is praying for his safety. He even wanted this fight to be boycotted so that if no one saw it, it would not happen and thereby ensure that the beaten men don’t get beaten again.
For all the interest that a possible bout between Floyd Mayweather, JR., and Manny Pacquiao has generated in the last two years, it seems that the only development apart from clearing the rain forests to make the print paper for this bout is the patriotic and spiritual uplifting attained by the great unbeaten champion. It is therefore high time that we as fans and followers of the sport forget about it and look for other possible avenues to quench our fight thirst. It is also high time we accept the greatness of Floyd Mayweather so that the champ stays in peace and also lets smaller beings like us enjoy our meek liking for the sport of boxing which hopefully will continue to be alive for some time.