The self-proclaimed face of boxing was captured last week in a booking photo. Floyd Mayweather Jr. looks as if he has a chance to go to the senior prom instead of prison. He’s smiling.
Or is that a sneer? Whatever it is, it’s no joke.
It turned deadly serious Thursday with news that the Clark County Attorney’s office in Las Vegas has charged Mayweather with four felony counts of coercion, robbery and grand larceny in addition to four misdemeanor counts on battery and harassment for an alleged incident involving former girlfriend Josie Harris on Sept. 9.
Just a couple of months ago, it looked as if Mayweather, who faces 34 years behind bars if convicted on all charges, would be busy in early November. He will be, but not against Manny Pacquiao. Mayweather is scheduled for arraignment in Las Vegas on Nov. 9, four days before he was supposed to have Pacquiao on his schedule.
Instead, Pacquiao faces Antonio Margarito on Nov. 13 at Cowboys Stadium in Dallas.
Instead of a record-setting payday against Pacquiao, Mayweather has a chance at being O.J. Simpson’s roommate. Why-oh-why is he smiling? There’s a theory that none of this would have happened if Mayweather had agreed to the fight. He would have been in training. The regimen would have keep him busy and out of trouble.
It’s a good argument, but not convincing, at least not from this corner. He is always training. It’s routine, Mayweather’s lifestyle. So, too, is trouble, which has always lurked like a bad rumor. Yet, Mayweather has been able to elude serious consequences, including assault complaint in 2003 from Harris, who backed off the allegation at a trial in 2005. Oscar De La Hoya, a regular target of Mayweather’s trash-talk, has taken the high road, expressing sympathy for his former rival and current promotional client.
Maybe, Mayweather’s troubles are a cry for help, De La Hoya said while promoting the Shane Mosley-Sergio Mora fight Saturday night at Los Angeles’ Staples Center in a week-long celebration of the 200-year anniversary of the Mexican Revolution.
Maybe, but Mayweather’s self-destructive spiral might be a symptom of something predicted a couple of years ago by Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum, Mayweather’s former promoter. Months before two rounds of failed negotiations, Arum said Mayweather wouldn’t fight Pacquiao because the welterweight didn’t want to take a chance at jeopardizing his unbeaten record.
Late last year, Mayweather suddenly shattered an apparent agreement for a bout in March by parroting unconfirmed gossip that Pacquiao used performance-enhancers. The deal fell apart with Mayweather’s demand for random, Olympic-style drug-testing.
A couple of months ago, there was a flurry of speculation, including a midnight media call with Arum. Again, there was no deal, yet many denials from the Mayweather camp about whether there were any talks at all.
A couple of weeks ago, Mayweather unleashed a racist, homophobic video directed at Pacquiao. The alleged incident at the Harris’ residence in Las Vegas quickly followed.
If there is a parallel, maybe it is Mike Tyson. During his days of rage, commentator Teddy Atlas, who also trained the retired heavyweight, theorized that Tyson’s behavior was the expression of a fighter doing everything he could not to fight.
Sound familiar? It’s beginning to.
Mayweather acts as if he is doing all he can not to fight Pacquiao.
Maybe that explains the smile.
Source: http://www.15rounds.com
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