FLOYDS WIN A LOT OF FANS YAWN!
Landover, MD-It ended with a win for Floyd Mayweather Jr. (35-0, 24 KOS) Saturday night against Sharmba Mitchell (56-5, 30 KOS). It always does. Sometimes though, winning isnt enough. Three year after his second fight with lightweight juggernaut Jose Luis Castillo, winning means less than it should. In the pre-fight interview with Larry Merchant, Mayweather said that he wanted to be the greatest fighter of all time. No one bothered to remind him that the men who lay claim to that title, like Harry Greb, Sugar Ray Robinson, and Sam Langford, didnt waste three years at their peak the way Mayweather just has.
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UNDESERVING OF POUND FOR POUND CLAIM!
That is not to say that Floyd has not been good during these three years. At times, one could think they were witnessing greatness, until they look at who Floyd is laying hands on. Through much criticism, Maxboxing writer Doug Fischer has steadfastly refused to name Floyd number one on his pound for pound list. Doug sees who has been across the ring. Could there be a selective viewing process for other men like HBOs Jim Lampley? His proclamation of Mayweather as king on Saturday, and the universal nature of his coronation by all but a few around the game, begs the question. When Mayweather is using his prime to blast Victoriano Sosa, Phillip NDou, Demarcus Corley, Henry Bruseles, Arturo Gatti, and now Mitchell, do viewers simply pretend that he is still fighting the likes of Gernaro Hernandez, Diego Corrales and Jesus Chavez? Perhaps they are. It has happened before.
ROY JONES-FLOYD MAYWEATHERBEWITCHED?
It hasnt just happened in boxing. Famously in the 1960s, the television program Bewitched replaced its leading man with another actor who resembled him. No one noticed. In Boxing, Roy Jones destroyed James Toney in 1994 and rode that wave through a series of title defenses at 168 that included Antoine Byrd, Vinny Pazienza, Tony Thornton, Merqui Sosa, Eric Lucas, and Bryant Brannon. Like Floyd, Jones followed his toughest opponent with six less-than-top foes in a row, all the while telling the world that better fighters wouldnt fight him (on his terms) while his fans proclaimed, Who cares? Look at how he beat Toney! Look at HOW he wins. Sound familiar? Unlike in Bewitched, some are noticing the replacement. HBO has seemingly granted Floyd the same privilege it provided Roy, demanding that he simply look good winning regardless of who it is against.
HBO AS MUCH THE PROBLEM AS FLOYD!
As noted in a discussion with ESPNS Dan Rafael on XM radio this week, HBO did not have to take this fight, at a price tag of almost $4 million, under their current contract. They did anyways. While Showtime has focused in the last two years on making fights, HBO has seemingly gotten into the business of making stars. The Klitschkos, Michael Grant, and Miguel Cottoare all fighters given ample HBO push without necessarily earning it. Floyd is different in the sense that he did earn it, up to the moment that he was done with Castillo. HBO is not demanding that he continue to do so, and in his case the game suffers for it. Floyd is winning fights, but he isnt winning historyand he should be.
FLOYD NOT FIGHTING BAD FIGHTERS!
This is not to say that all of Mayweathers opponents in the last three years were bums, or tomato cans. Corley, Gatti, and Mitchellare all legitimate world-class fighters. The problem is that, while they might be good, there are better fighters to face. At 135, there was Floyds famous (alleged) refusal to fight Stevie Johnston. As Merchant rightly pointed out (even if not to Floyd), Floyd recently refused to face welterweight Antonio Margarito. No one doubts that the biggest fights are tough to negotiate, but great fighters find ways to get great fights. Thats why no one asks how Robinson would have done against Gene Fullmer; how Greb would have done with Mickey Walker; or how Ray Leonard would have done with Tommy Hearns. Those fighters made sure to get their man in the ring.
FLOYD CAN STOP THE INSANITY!
Should Floyd make a statement in 2006 that he wants his men in the ring, then this last three years can be behind him quickly. Like Roy, he can move on from his soft six to more intriguing fare. Jones fought Mike McCallum, Montell Griffin and Virgil Hill consecutively after his soft six. Floyd has even better options. The bad blood and trash talk between he and World Welterweight champion Zab Judah is the beginning of a rivalry where for the first time in years hip-hop culture could have style and substance simultaneously. Ricky Hatton, as champion at 140 or challenger at 147, after that could be this generations Julio Cesar Chavez-Meldrick Taylor. And bigger stars like Oscar De La Hoya and Shane Mosley also loom. Floyd has long said he wants greatness. These are the names that can lead to it. It is time that the fans, the press and his network hold him to his word.
24-KARAT NOTEBOOK
Heavyweight Calvin Brock (27-0, 21 KOS) continued his winning ways with a hard fought decision over David Bostice (35-10-1, 15 KOS). This fight was a rumored step toward meeting the crushing puncher David Tua (44-3-1, 38 KOS). Brock reminds me of Larry Holmes and this could well be his Ernie Shavers test. Before Holmes was king, it was a decision win over Shavers that put him in the title pictureI said last week that Mitchell was a live underdog against Mayweather and indeed he gave Floyd his best. Had he been a couple years younger, who knowsUS Olympic Gold Medalist Andre Ward (7-0, 4 KOS) dropped on the Mayweather undercard by a guy who was supposed to be named Willie Standup, may be chinny. He may also be fighting at a weight too light. Oscar De la Hoya got clipped early in his career when fighting at 130 for that reason. Time will tellWBA 108 lb. titlist Roberto Vasquez (21-1, 17 KOS) made a successful title defense this weekend. A unification match with WBC titlist Brian Viloria (18-0, 12 KOS) would be the best fight in that division since Michael Carbajal-Chiquita Gonzalez The best fight of the weekend was a football game that went into the fifteenth round. My hometown Fresno State Bulldogs came THIS close to upsetting #1 USC. Four lead changes to a final 50-42! What a game fellas! Just win next time huh?
Cliff Rold
Note: 24-Karat Rold is not just the best young boxing writer on the planet. He is also an award winning poet and recently received his Masters degree in US Foreign Policy at the American University in Washington DC. He can be reached with your comments at [email protected]