Floyd Mayweather Jr; Guilty Of Perfection
By Jason Petock (March 19, 2007) Doghouse Boxing (Photo © Teddy Blackburn)
Floyd Mayweather Jr. (37 – 0) was born to be a pugilist by profession. It is an occurrence as natural to him as you or I tying our shoelaces in the morning or brushing our teeth before work. The man was groomed as a youth to be great and even legendary by the very best, his own family passing on the blood of the Mayweather dynasty. Now he is a force to be reckoned with and has to deal with the condemnation that goes along with such ability as aimed at him by various critics. A master showman, Mayweather exudes a definitive understanding of boxing in the ring. His punches have become pin point signatures, distinctive to him and his craft and him alone. Floyd has taken the maxim of, “Hit and Don’t Be Hit”, and elevated it
above and beyond simple reasoning even. Love him or hate him, Floyd Mayweather Jr. has arrived.

Quite possibly the largest test in Mayweather’s outstanding career comes at him full force on May 5th when he faces off against successful entrepreneur and fellow ring veteran Oscar De La Hoya (38 – 4 – 0). The idea alone to hold the bout on Cinco de Mayo is brilliant enough. Add in the fact that two legends are fighting a somewhat be all, end all fight is simply magic.

Now comes the difficult part. This being the proverbial questions on everyone’s mind, “Who the hell is going to win this thing?”

Take Floyd for instance. He has the arsenal, speed, defense, and a strong offense to name a few of his best qualities. Combine this with a tactician’s wit in the squared circle and you find a fighter that is hard to beat under any conditions be they in your favor or his.

And on the other hand you have De La Hoya who brings with him a wide expanse of experience and aptitude as a boxer. He has managed to balance the responsibilities of being committed to a full time business in Golden Boy while maintaining his status as a prizefighter. Oscar’s skill in the ring should not be questioned at this point reviewing his history of accomplishments. This is a confrontation between two Champions who are laying their stake in quite possibly the biggest draw since Dempsey vs. Willard. I’m a huge fan of exaggeration, but you get my drift.

So in retrospect to be fair, (in an unfair world), Floyd Mayweather Jr. hasn’t really gotten the respect or admiration that he rightfully deserves. Keep in mind that this is a constant whether you support the man as a fighter or not. Instead, he has almost become a super villain to an often biased and unforgiving media and their devotees. And all because of a view misguided or (dare they be) honest comments? If anything he should be lauded for his candidness. Go ahead and try to say that you dislike his exchanges with Brian Kenny, let’s just say that you can’t put a price tag on that.

People forget that a (lost) part of boxing is promotion, more importantly self promotion. Ali and Johnson both came under scrutiny during their eras for being masters of self promotion and throwing uppercuts into the chins of society and the establishment. Mayweather is no different. And no one knows of his predominance of this capability better than Floyd. The thing is someone forgot to tell boxing fans about this, and his braggadocio has rubbed a deal of them the wrong way. Pay attention, this is boxing not badminton people.

The jury’s out. The verdict? Floyd Mayweather Jr. is guilty of perfection. The sentence? A future nomination into the Boxing Hall of Fame. The outcome? Priceless.


Comments/disputes/questions?
e-mail
Jason at: boxingwarrior@hotmail.com
© Copyright / All Rights reserved: Doghouse Boxing 1998-2007