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Floyd Mayweather Jr., fights the rest and
dodges the best.
(A conversation with Bob Arum)
By
Michael Cassell “The Philadelphia Boxing Report”
(DEC 6) I CAN ALREADY HEAR THE PHRASE,
“Floyd hater”. I cannot
find too many writers that are more impressed with Floyd Mayweather Jr.
than I am, but his speed and natural ability far exceed his hunger to
fight the best competition, and that is his major flaw. It is not a
mistake, that Floyd Mayweather, and Oscar De La Hoya, were both promoted
to super stardom by Top Rank. Bob Arum realizes that great matches make
great fighters, period. The one point that Arum made at the post fight
press conference on December 2, was that his fighters will fight
anybody.
As
Arum put it;
“We understand that boxing is in the
doldrums, there are people that say that boxing is falling from
popularity. I see it; you do not have to tell me that. Well, what do you
do to bring them back? You have to get kids, to be in competitive
fights, that mean something to people, and they know they are going to
get an exciting evening. Like a few weeks ago with Pacquiao/ Morales,
people were thrilled, because the guys came to fight. People know that
Miguel Cotto, with a guy that’s in a fight, is going to be exciting. I
do not care, who they are, where they are, or what they have to say, it
is going to be an exciting fight, and that’s what people want to see.
People do not want to see, Floyd Mayweather, fooling around with
Baldomir. No matter how great a boxer, there are certain people; really
most people want to see action, great competition. That is what a guy
like Cotto brings, that’s what a guy like Margarito and Clottey brings.
Maybe you say Margarito is not the best fighter in the world, he is
slow, or whatever, but he absolutely comes to fight, and that is what
people pay to see, a fight! Not a Goddamn exhibition, where they pose
with each other, in the middle of the ring. Why do you think Gatti is so
popular? He fights. Sometimes he wins, sometimes he losses, but he
fights. They always see excitement, hey… Duran taught me that, Hagler
taught me that, Sugar Ray taught me that, Hearns taught me that. I’ve
been in this business over 40 years.”
I know it was borderline criminal, but
someone asked him anyway, and I loved it.
Is Mayweather a protected fighter? Arum
smiled, he knew that one was coming.
“Floyd
is great boxer, and a talented boxer, but most people won’t pay a nickel
to see him, because it’s not exciting. I promoted 35 of his fights, and
only handfuls were exciting. You heard Cotto before, “he” is no bull
shitter, and he will fight anybody. That’s the way it used to be!”
Do
you think that is the major difference between Mayweather, and fighters
like Margarito, Cotto, and Clottey? Arum
leaned forward like a preacher on a pulpit, and exulted.
“YOU ARE CORRECT, YOU ARE CORRECT, YOU ARE
CORRECT”. Because they (Mayweather / De La Hoya) are businessmen first,
and they do not relish the combat style of boxing. De la Hoya picks his
opponents in that way, because he is businessman first, and he does not
like to mix it up, because he does not want to hurt his face. If he can
get away with it, more power to him, he is not putting a gun to anyone’s
head and stealing money. He had a promoter who knew how to promote him,
and make him a superstar, through good matchmaking. Mayweather and De La
Hoya, will be involved in the most talked about fight next year, and
isn’t it interesting, that the company that developed them is TOP RANK,
and the company developing Miguel Cotto and fighters like him is TOP
RANK, it is not an accident. There is a way to develop fighters. Most
promoters today, have not a clue. They think you take a kid, put him in
with 35 tomato cans, you sell him to HBO, and roll the dice, and hope
that they win, and that’s being a promoter.
When
I first heard Arum saying the same kinds of things back in April, I
thought it was sour grapes, mixed with truth. Today, I believe truer
words were never spoken. There is one thing that Margarito, Cotto,
Clottey, and Quintana, all have in common. They are all fighters; Floyd
Mayweather could fight or could have tried to fight. He instead chooses
a match with De La Hoya, which sounds good on paper, but will probably
look bad in the ring. When the event is over, all the bank accounts are
full, and all the rhetoric is distributed, everything Bob Arum
pontificated will be more obvious than ever. The best fighters in the
world become the best fighters in the world, by fighting the best
competition. Mayweather and De La hoya are both filthy rich and they can
thank Bob Arum for that, but when it is all said and done, history will
remember what they did in the ring, not the size of their portfolio, or
their solid business deals. Meanwhile, as they pose, guys like Cotto
fight. I think if Arum had his way, we would be watching De La Hoya /
Cotto, Mayweather / Margarito and Mosley / Clottey on the same card. Now
that is worth 49.95………… plus tax.
Mike
Cassell
“The
Philadelphia Boxing Report” |
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