Floyd Mayweather: Should we criticize?

Floyd Mayweather: Should we criticize?

By Jeremy Valdez (Nov 15, 2006) Photo © German Villasenor

It seems that Floyd Mayweather Jr will never do anything right in the eyes of his critics. Despite making it look easy in a dominating boxing performance against Carlos Baldomir to win the WBC welterweight championship at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas on November 4, Mayweather was criticized throughout the fight by the HBO commentators and after the fight by many other writers and reporters for not knocking out Baldomir and making it a more 'exciting fight'.

Sure the fight didn't have the toe-to-toe action that many fans were hoping for, but why should he be forced to stand and trade against a bigger man when he can literally box circles around Baldomir and win an easy decision without taking any hard shots? Not to mention he did so with a injured right hand throughout much of the fight. Without wanting to risk serious injury to that hand he beat Baldomir with lead left hooks, superior footwork, and his defensive wizardry in the second half of the fight. You can't really fault Mayweather for not wanting to risk injuring his hand to the point that would

require surgery that could keep him inactive for an extended amount of time.

There was probably a good chance that had he been able to use his right hand like he wanted to, Mayweather would have stopped Baldomir. Baldomir had no answer for anything Mayweather did and was completely frustrated after only the first few rounds. In the eyes of most observers, in fact, Carlos Baldomir did not win a single round. Criticizing Mayweather's performance is like saying Greg Maddux pitching a perfect game is unimpressive because he didn't have 20 strikeouts. Let's not forget this is the same Carlos Baldomir who beat Zab Judah and destroyed Arturo Gatti. The same guy that everybody was saying would be the toughest opponent of Mayweather's illustrious career. In fact, Emmanuel Steward said before the fight that he would favor Baldomir even though he felt Floyd would be well prepared. Yes, the same Emanuel Steward that said he didn't think Baldomir was good enough to beat Gatti. He quickly changed his tune in the fight to say that Mayweather wasn't a truly great fighter because he wasn't punishing Baldomir like other great fighters would.

I'm not going to agree with Mayweather and say he's the greatest fighter of all time. It's impossible to compare eras because today's athletes have so many more physical advantages over fighters in the past. I've only seen highlights of Sugar Ray Robinson and Willie Pep and have seen only a few fights of Joe Louis. I have, however, seen plenty of Muhammad Ali, Roberto Duran, Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Tommy Hearns, Alexis Arguello and Aaron Pryor among others. I feel Pryor was actually the best of the bunch, and many people said Leonard ducked him in the amateurs and professionally, yet we don't hear about that too often. Floyd Mayweather does belong in that group. He's as talented as any of them and his work ethic would make him tough to beat. How many times did Ali call himself the greatest? What did Joe Louis' fans think about that? Yes, Mayweather is cocky but that's what drives him. The fact that he believes that makes him work that much harder not to get beat. If he had any less of an opinion of himself he probably wouldn't be 37-0. The difference and criticism with Floyd is that he wears his emotion and feelings on his sleeve. He says what he feels. It has cost him millions over his career and he understands and must accept that. He can be criticised and applauded for that. Many other great fighters feel the same way. They just want to be politically correct to try to preserve their image because if not the media has the power to convince the fans what kind of person someone is.

So although I won't call him the best ever, I will say he doesn't deserve all of the criticism, especially from the HBO broadcast team. It's no wonder that boxing is at perhaps its lowest point in history. I've always felt that HBO's telecasts are far superior to Showtime or anyone else and I think Jim Lampley is the best play by play man in the business, but HBO shouldn't let these guys criticize the fights and fighters as much as they do. Yes, we all want honest opinions but the bottom line is that they work for HBO and demeaning these fights is not helping boxing in general or their future telecasts. We all know it's hard to keep Larry Merchant interested in anything. Sometimes I've wondered if he dozes off during some of the rounds during many telecasts. In my opinion, he's a good commentator but definitely has an agenda and is too negative a lot of the time. These guys should be selling the sport, not detracting from it. Merchant deserved everything he had coming to him from Floyd after the fight. We know Roy Jones and many others have wanted to do it for a long time. He talked about all of the boos from the crowd and the fact that many people left before the final round, but he might have failed to notice that a lot of the boos were for Baldomir for not attacking Mayweather the way he said he would and force Mayweather to get in the trenches and trade. Or he may not have seen that all of the celebrities in the star studded arena left after the 11th round so that they wouldn't get mobbed by the crowd after the fight. Not because they were bored. The section where I was sitting in was filled with Mayweather's family and friends who also left at that point, no doubt so they could get out of there quick and get to the press conference. Almost everybody else was still there for the decision. So maybe Merchant should have all of his facts straight before he makes comments like that. And no doubt Steward is a legendary trainer, but a great expert commentator he is not. He's decent, but betting against his prediction on the fight usually can be a pretty safe bet.

Floyd Mayweather may never draw the crowd of an Oscar De La Hoya, Mike Tyson or Sugar Ray Leonard among others for many reasons, but to criticize a flawless performance is unnecessary. Drawing big pay-per-view numbers and large crowds has a lot more to do with being politically correct and how you deal with the media than performance alone. Floyd Mayweather will probably never be able to repair the image he portrayed early on in his career to gain the respect of the mass media whether it was deserved or not. As I said before, he has to live with that. And he will, very comfortably, as he has still become one of the wealthiest fighters in the sport, on his own terms.

As for those tears at the press conference. There's no way anyone can call those fake. Whether he retires after one more fight or not, there is no doubt that's how he felt at the time. Boxing is the only thing Floyd's ever known. So to announce that he intends to retire was definitely one of the hardest things he will ever do, especially after twenty years of 'blood, sweat, and tears'. I have my doubts that it will happen like everyone else, but if he does walk away he will be missed. I will miss the perfection and precision that he brought to the sport. I actually liked the cockiness and trash talk. This is entertainment, after all. Why do you think a guy like Tito Ortiz is so popular in the UFC? He could be criticized far worse than Mayweather for his comments and actions in and out of the Octagon. The UFC is growing, however, because controversy and trash talk creates cash. Oh yeah, and their commentators don't bring down their events even no matter how bad they are. If Floyd walks away at age 30 he will join the likes of Barry Sanders, Jim Brown, and other greats who left in their prime. I applaud Floyd Mayweather if he walks away for the right reasons, but he shouldn't let the critics drive him away if that's the real reason he's talking retirement. They may get their wish and jump for joy if he does, but those same critics will be waiting for the next Floyd Mayweather type talent to come along and elevate the sport on their terms. My advice is don't hold your breath guys, you'll be waiting a while.