Floyd Mayweather Jr - Out to break some hearts
By Rob Scott (Aug 18, 2007) Doghouse Boxing (Photo © Teddy Blackburn)
Who do you have at the top of your pound for pound list? For many, ‘Pretty Boy’ Floyd Mayweather sits atop their current best of the lot list; while an ever increasing thought pattern of sluggers like Manny Pacquiao, not only approaching, but in some cases passing Mayweather as the very best, are surfacing everyday. 
 
Boxing beauty is indeed in the eye of every viewer that beholds, but the eye just may not be the part of one’s person that some use to see with. Far too often people use their hearts to guide them in picking who’s who, and what’s what when it
comes to the fight game. Who are the best and why seem to be determined because of personal preference, not because of true thought.
 
In the wake of Miguel Cotto’s last showing against Zab Judah, there are more than a few who not only want to now see him face Mayweather, but feel he just may have a similar showing, much like he had with Judah. Even Manny Pacquiao, who if he were similar to Mayweather’s size, without question, there would be those who would think that the Pac Man would inevitably place Mayweather’s name on his resume, with the same results as others like Eric Morales and Marco Antonio Barrera.
 
Now I say some, like with the aforementioned two fighters, but not all suffer from those cases of seeing with their hearts instead of with their minds.
 
Now the name of Ricky ‘Hitman’ Hatton is yet another name to be thrown into the mix of fighters that the viewing audience wants to see face Mayweather. There wish has turned into Mayweather and Hatton’s command, as these two undefeated fighters will face one another on December 8th in Las Vegas in what is simply being called, ‘Undefeated’. Golden Boy Promotions, along with Mayweather, who himself will be making his first promotional outing under his
Mayweather Promotions banner,  will share hats, bringing the 'Hitman', with a` record of, 43-0(24),  and the 'Pretty Boy', 38-0 (24), together in front of an HBO pay-per-view audience who are sure to get their money’s worth.
 
In his native England, Hatton has a following that rivals any fighter or star on our shores. When he fights, the chant of “there’s only one Ricky Hatton” can be heard nearly outside of the arena. Their belief in him hasn’t been an overnight feeling, as they have watched Hatton work his way from that kid from Manchester, to ‘the Man’ in the junior welterweight division of boxing.
 
Coming to U.S. soil to show his wares, Hatton has turned more than a few heads towards his direction; especially after his fourth round destruction of Mexico’s Jose Luis Castillo on HBO this past June in Las Vegas. His recent wins have brought about optimism much like the aforementioned Pacquiao and Cotto, but as with all of their new found followers, I wonder how much of the optimism is coached, as opposed to being natural. 
 
There is a difference in true belief and the beliefs brought about through wishful thinking. In many cases, Jedi mind trick media has the tendency to sway thoughts from those of the mind, to those of the heart. The problem is, sometimes those heartfelt thoughts can leave you heartbroken.
 
Styles make fights, is just one of the clichéd sayings that we’ve heard since forever. Now we may get tired of some of the sayings from time to time, but there is a reason for certain sayings to have the ability to be said over and over…because they are the sheer truth. Styles do indeed make fights; and styles can determine who in the end has their hand raised, and who walks away with their head down.
 
The ever increasing love affair with bangers that viewers are having, definitely bring to mind the saying, love is blind, because there seems to be a touch of myopia when looking at certain boxers. Mayweather is considered the best, which is why the bar is set so high for him. If he is thought of as the best, and he continuously reminds us that he is, then high expectations are warranted. But when that bar is set so high for someone that’s in his position, and he has what seems like a so-so showing, then his fall seems to be more than what it really is.  
 
Criticism for his safety first showings with Carlos Baldomir and Oscar De La Hoya should go to the wayside, because in actuality, moving and not planting his feet and fighting really wasn’t an act of being a coward, but one of intelligence.  Knocking Baldomir out would have been a tough task – just ask Vernon Forrest about that fact.
 
Now there may have been some fighters named Picasso, but they weren’t like the painting artist or artistes of the ring who have placed many an opponent on the boxing canvas just as artistically as any painting canvas used by Pablo or Vincent Van Gogh. Their collective artistry definitely deserve kudos, but let’s not act as if Mayweather has been boxing’s version of a finger painter. There is a reason that he is considered the best in the game, and it’s because he has used his God given talents to perfection thus far. Those talents entail using brains as well as brawn. 
 
Now don’t get me wrong; admittedly, if anyone says that someone is unbeatable, they too are ones that don’t think with their minds either. As a matter of fact, if anyone speaks the word ‘unbeatable’ when it comes to boxing, then it’s a word spoken not from one’s mouth but from one’s backside, because they are indeed full of it.
 
The point is, for those who think Hatton will have an easy night on Dec. 8th like he had with Castillo, or anyone having an easy time with Mayweather for that matter, should stop thinking with their hearts, and use their brains. Hearts used in the wrong way can surely lead to chest pains, and Mayweather has what it takes to put many a detractor in cardiac arrest.





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