It’s been more than three years since Floyd Mayweather was an active professional boxer. Since beating Andre Berto in September of 2015, there hasn’t even been a rumor of “Money” returning to the ring against a “real” fighter until the recent buzz about a rematch with Manny Pacquiao.
Yet, media and a large chunk of boxing fandom still rail against all things Mayweather as if the five-division world champ was still fighting, mucking up the “sanctity” of the sport.
Why? Why the still-critical eye and outrage over Mayweather and his every move? Why the canned self-righteous indignation over his nonsense bout with Conor McGregor or the recent gnashing of teeth over a now-canceled exhibition with a Japanese kickboxer kid?
What Mayweather is doing post-retirement should be irrelevant to boxing “purists” who have named themselves caretakers of the sport’s dignity.
But there’s a reason why Mayweather is a target.
It’s because Mayweather represents a bucking of old guard boxing business. His great success serves as an example to other fighters who may want to strive for autonomy and swerve away from the indentured servitude business model that has kept fighters firmly in “control” of promoters and other shot-callers at the top of the boxing food chain.
As I wrote in a 2013 article on this issue:
“The idea is to keep the fighters fluent enough to not complain, but cash-poor enough to always be dependent on the next payday. It's an old trick of indentured servitude. Think turn of the century coal miners, loaned money for the necessities of life against future paydays, only to find themselves in a perpetual cycle of servitude to the coal mine owner, always working to bring themselves up to zero.”
Yeah, the money is much better these days and the fighting conditions are more favorable, but the business model is still basically the same and anyone who threatens that business model instantly gets painted as an enemy of the sport.
Don’t believe for a second that the obsessive disdain is about who he did or didn’t fight when he was an active boxer. It has nothing to do with any of that, although most of the critics probably do believe that the dislike is about matters related to his boxing career. But many of these guys should be smart enough to know that Mayweather’s opponent selection and much of what he did as, essentially, his own matchmaker was nothing beyond standard practice for managers and promoters who look after the fighters they represent. Risk vs. reward and selecting the “right” fight at the right time has always been part of the game.
Mayweather doing this for himself, though, is the tie that leads back to the root cause of the disdain. He did it for himself and didn’t rely on the men in suits to make all the deals and touch all the money first before sending him what they felt was an acceptable cut.
Mayweather’s success is a direct threat to the status quo and to all those “business men” who benefit from it. And the lackey boxing media, which is dependent on money and favors from the old school promoters and managers, are the eager attack dogs for the anti-autonomy cause.
Mayweather—whether you like him or not, respect his professional legacy or not—is a defiant symbol of there being another way. Boxing doesn’t have to be old men in back offices arranging for “my boy to fight your boy.”
And as long as Mayweather continues to be a public figure, thumbing his nose at the system and reaping the benefits of autonomy, he will remain the scornful target of those who want to keep boxing from being run like a real sport.
Quick (S)hits:
-- Oleksandr Usyk fought a smart, tactical fight Saturday against Tony Bellew en route to an eighth round knockout at Manchester Arena in the UK. The Ukraine technician and undisputed 4-belt cruiserweight champ probably could’ve blown past a gutsy Bellew, but care was taken to walk down and set up the tough Brit for the perfect fight-ending opportunity. There’s nothing to dislike about Usyk and plenty to love, but it’s tough imagining a cruiserweight challenge for him at this point and a talked-about move up to heavyweight may be too much for him. So, maybe we’ve seen him rise as far as he’s going to go. In the meantime, let’s just enjoy what he brings to the ring against the best available opposition.
-- Yuriorkis Gamboa and Juan Manuel Lopez were both victorious via unanimous 10-round decisions Saturday night in a twin-bill PPV from Miami. The victories set up an eight-years-too-late Gamboa-Lopez showdown for March or April. I’ll be watching—because I watch just about everything boxing-related—but I won’t be buying. No doubt, this would’ve been better back when both were in their primes, but Gamboa-Lopez in 2019 is not without its intrigue. Both are well past their best days, but the basic matchup is still essentially the same—Gamboa’s speed vs. Lopez’s power. Now, we have to throw in another factor—who’s the most faded?
-- Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.’s desire to take another crack at Canelo Alvarez made headlines on Sunday. But, while El Hijo de la Leyenda may not get a second Canelo fight, he will for sure get yet another shot at boxing stardom. Booked against Alfredo Angulo on the free Countdown Live show prior to the December 1 Deontay Wilder-Tyson Fury pay-per-view, the second generation fighter stands a good chance of scoring a devastating stoppage against the former junior middleweight champ and, in doing so, could very well be in a title picture by mid-2019. In boxing, name-value always dies hard and, like it or not, Chavez Jr. will keep popping up until he’s either permanently put down or decides to walk away.
Got something for Magno? Send it here: paulmagno@theboxingtribune.com