|
|
It has come a time for me as a writer, as a brother and as an uncle to take this time and reach out to my brothers as well as my nephew and call some type of truce. Someone needs to start the healing process. I guess since I get along with everyone, and in a sense have a voice that reaches far beyond just my brothers or my family, I want to share this message with all those who may know us personally or those who might just happen to hear about us. What I'm about to write comes from deep within my heart and I hope it somehow reaches all the parties involved in this family quarrel.
I consider myself the neutral party. I get along with both my brothers Floyd Sr. and Roger. I have reservations with my nephew Floyd Jr. but we haven't spoken in almost seven years. I still love Floyd Jr. and would do anything I could to help him if he needed me; the fact that we don't speak doesn't mean I dislike him. I dislike the person he has become. I don't care for the image he projects to the public and I honestly feel he needs to grow up and be his own man, and get rid of some of those so-called friends, cronies or whatever they may be. He needs to live life to the fullest, without confrontation everywhere, every time he shows up some place.
My nephew didn't grow up this way and what he has become outside the ring I don't like, just as most fight fans obviously don't like either, since they are not spending their money to see him fight. He has all the attributes to become a Super Star in the Boxing World and beyond. It may never happen now because he has too much negative energy around him. He was supposed to be the Ray Leonard of his generation but instead he's just a great fighter, when he should have Madison Avenue banging on his door to carry the sport into a different industry like Oscar de la Hoya and George Foreman have so successfully accomplished.
Floyd Jr. is a charismatic, good looking young man; well spoken when he has something positive to say, owner of a great smile, his body is always in tremendous shape. He is hands down one of the best fighters in this era and maybe, before he's done with boxing, in any era. He's 28 years old and still looks like a teenager, until you see his rap sheet, then you know he's been around for a minute. He needs to grow up, all this back and forth bickering with his dad is uncalled for, plus it's just plain ugly.
Floyd Jr.: No one will respect you when you defy your father, the same man who gave you life and the talent you possess that has made you the fighter you are today. Why are you even beefing with your father at all? He did a good job of being a father, his only fault was that he may have focused a little too much on creating a fighting machine destined for greatness and didn't spend enough time teaching you about the pitfalls of life and how you carry yourself as a man? This mudslinging needs to stop. There are a lot of people in this world who only wish they could see their father, either because their father abandoned them or because their father passed on. Take this time to bond. Your father is not going to be here forever, enjoy him while he's still around and stop fighting him about nothing.
Floyd Sr. also needs to put the brakes on some of his comments about his own brother Roger. Floyd, no matter what you think or feel about Roger, let that be your feeling, don't go to the press and belittle your own flesh and blood. The press is not the place to air your dirty laundry; it's time to heal and leave it alone.
Roger and I have been almost completely silent in all this crap being written about the Mayweather Family. The sad part is that you guys are buying right into the system, not that I blame any writer wanting a good story, that's their job, the more dirt the better. They are getting all this crap straight from the horse's mouth.
Mom and I sit on the phone and talk about how this is destroying the family, but most importantly how it is destroying her. My Mom is in her seventies and doesn't need all this nonsense and aggravation in her twilight years. She needs to have all her children and grandchildren living in harmony, so she can enjoy the rest of her life without all this extra baggage.
I hope my brother as well as my nephew get a chance to read this or hear about it by word of mouth. The time has come to start healing and stop letting the press paint such a negative picture of our family. In reality our family is not as bad as it's being pictured. On any given day we can all be seen training at the same gym, at the same time, without any commotion. We might not be the Brady Bunch but we certainly aren't the Hatfields and McCoys either. We're just like any other family that has disagreements; it's just that our disagreements make it to the press or to a boxing website only adding to the drama.
Floyd Sr.: For once let there not be a rebuttal about something that may have been said about you; someone needs to be the bigger man and in the words of JAY Z 'Get that Dirt off your Shoulder' and move on with your life. Either one of us could be gone tomorrow and then it will be too late to make amends.
I'm taking this time to reach out to three people that I love and care about, to let them know it's time to chill, it's time to heal...
|
|
© Copyright / All Rights reserved: Doghouse Boxing 1998-2005
|