Mayweather hard to like and hard to beat

It is as hard to like Floyd Mayweather, Jr., as it is to beat him, especially after he failed to honor an agreement for an unnecessary advantage that in the end damaged him the most and only made negotiations for a potential showdown with Manny Pacquiao more problematic.

Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum has said repeatedly that he doesn’t foresee a fight with Mayweather. Arum and Mayweather, a former client, are about as friendly as dueling scorpions. Nevertheless, Mayweather-Pacquiao still looks as if it has the biggest money-making potential of any possibility on the horizon. Playing-hard- to-get is a good way to begin negotiations, especially for a fight – a perfect storm — made inevitable by market forces.

But Mayweather insulted the process, fans and a great champion, Juan Manuel Marquez, with a mere two pounds last Friday and who-knows-how-many-more at Saturday’s opening bell. Mayweather’s two extra pounds above a catch weight (144) agreed upon in the initial deal weren’t necessary in the bout, which after a 21-month layoff was never more than tune-up anyway.

If Mayweather had been 144 at Friday’s weigh-in, his unanimous decision would have been just as decisive over the aging Marquez, who had been at his best as a featherweight and had only fought a couple times as a lightweight. Mayweather is that good. That skilled.

Nevertheless, the unbeaten Mayweather couldn’t resist rigging the system to his advantage. The contract was re-written and filed with the Nevada State Athletic Commission late last week. The Commission only asks that contracts be filed in a timely manner.

One man’s timely manner is another man’s loophole and Mayweather danced through this one in time to avoid a reported 10 percent fine, which would have subtracted $1 million from his $10 million purse. That would have been in addition to the reported $300,000 he paid Marquez for each pound he was above a catch weight that was a key to the initial agreement.



Colleague Marc Abrams of15rounds.com jokingly told me that Marquez should have tried to further supersize the supplement to his guarantee by sending a George Foreman-sized order of cheeseburgers to Mayweather’s house late Thursday after the contract was re-written, amending it to a welterweight fight. If Mayweather had been 147 instead of 146 at the official weigh-in, Marquez could have inflated his purse, already a career-high, to $2.9million

There is a temptation to say that Marquez was bought, sold and sent down the river. But he agreed to the devil in the details. It is hard to blame him. At 36, there probably won’t be another chance at $2.6 million. Still, it leaves troublesome questions about whether Mayweather will honor terms in any agreement with Pacquiao, another former featherweight champion who faces a dangerous date on Nov. 14 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand against Miguel Cotto.

Even if Arum and designated Mayweather promoter Richard Schaefer of Golden Boy get past a purse divide still subject to respective pay-per-view numbers, any deal could break under the weight. Pacquiao will fight Cotto, a welterweight, at 145. If the same catch-weight were struck for Pacquiao-Mayweather, there are at least a couple of reasons – two pounds – to say Mayweather wouldn’t honor it. Maybe, there are terms that could force him to. A weigh-in two weeks before the fight might be one way. Another way might be a specific definition from the Nevada Commission about when the contract needs to be filed. Provide a date, a deadline, please.

Then, there was Mayweather’s refusal to step onto a scale for Home Box Office Saturday before opening bell. Marquez, who was 148 Saturday, said he felt as if Mayweather was 20 pounds heavier than he was. When his back was to me, Mayweather looked like a middleweight.

But it is anybody’s guess as to how heavy he really was. A second, public weigh-in on the day of the bout should also be made mandatory by the Nevada Commission. Fans, especially would-be gamblers, have a right to know. So do both fighters. As it was, Marquez had no idea whether he needed to alter tactics for a Mayweather who might have been heavier than expected. Meanwhile, Mayweather knew that Marquez, 148 before opening bell, might be slower than expected. He was, ponderously so.

In a post-fight scene that saw Mayweather plaing Kanye West role and snatching HBO commentator Max Kellerman’s microphone, he never disclosed his weight. Go ahead, speculate. Mayweather leaves you, me and Marquez no other choice. That’s the problem. Speculation usually assumes the worst and that only erodes Mayweather’s claim on pound-for-pound honors in the debate with Pacquiao. The guess – and that’s all we have – is that Mayweather was a weight class or two heavier than Marquez.

Mayweather desperately wants people to like him, but only on his scale, his terms.

That’s hard to do without the trust that his potential opponents, business partners, need if those terms are to mean anything at all. So far, we only have Mayweather’s words on what he is and mostly on what everybody else is not. Maybe, he’s right. Maybe, he is the best. But he can only prove that against the very people who have a couple more reasons to mistrust him.

NOTES, QUOTES & ODDSERVATIONS

· There is a lot talk that Cristobal Arreola is jumping into the deep end too early Saturday night on HBO against Vitali Klitschko at Los Angeles’ Staples Center. Maybe, but there just aren’t many good heavyweights anymore. Where else can Arreola turn? For Arreola, Vitali is a risk all right. If he prevails, however, the reward is huge. He’d be the first of Mexican descent to win a heavyweight title. With the Mexicans losing their traditional dominance of the lighter weights, Arreola could emerge as real star and big draw with boxing’s biggest and most loyal audience.

· Did anybody catch Bernard Hopkins’ angry look while standing at the center of the ring during Mayweather’s shouting match, first with Sugar Shane Mosley and then Kellerman? Hopkins looked as if he would be willing to fight Mayweather at any weight. It becoming increasingly clear that Hopkins just doesn’t like Mayweather, who never refers to him by name. Instead, Mayweather calls him: “That Philly fighter. What’s his name?’’

· Jesus Gonzales (24-1), who vanished as a middleweight prospect a couple of years ago, might turn up on a card on Oct. 17 at Celebrity Theatrein Phoenix, his hometown, says promoter Ivaylo Gotzev, who plans feature former cruiserweight Vassiliy Jirov in a comeback.

· In his promotional role, Oscar De La Hoya praised Mayweather, his old rival, for his victory over Marquez. But that doesn’t mean they are on each other’s next Christmas-card list. There is still tension between the two. “I truly don’t like him,’’ Mayweather said as he looked at De La Hoya at the formal news conference a few days before facing Marquez. “And I know that he doesn’t like me.’’


Comment: Who do you think would like someone who is so arrogant, disrespectful, egotistical and a coward with a big loud mouth like Floyd "Money" Mayweather?

Source: Mayweather hard to like and hard to beat

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