Floyd Mayweather has been hitting the headlines for all the wrong reasons lately, and more than anything else he could do with a distraction to turn talk away from his indiscretions and towards his boxing ability, which he seems to often forget is the reason he is where he is today.
To some, no matter what Mayweather does now he will never be liked or respected, either because of what he said recently or his general attitude and persona over the last few years. But then the opposite is also true, he will always have his supporters no matter how many he offends or what kind of nonsense he comes out with. Similarly he will always sell a lot of pay per views purely because of the fact that he knows better than any other fighter in the sport today how to create a lot of hype for his fights.
Right now though, the only reason people are talking about him is because of his two ill conceived internet appearances, and while he seems to have escaped any repercussions for the time being, his sponsors at least are probably eager for him to give people something other than racist remarks to talk about.
So how does he climb out of this pit he has dug himself into?
By doing what he does best, the one thing that people still stand by him for and the only reason anyone pays him any attention. He needs to announce his next fight.
A new opponent might not necessarily completely repair his public image, but it would go a long way towards making people forget about his recent idiotic statements, particularly if he consciously went about promoting his next fight without saying anything too offensive or derogatory.
By the sounds of things, he doesn't currently have any plans in the pipeline, and his talk of fighting in Dubai a few weeks ago now seems to have petered out. But even if he still wants to fight Pacquiao some time next year as he claims, there is still plenty of time for him to take another fight between now and then.
Not that he deserves to be able to say whatever he likes without any kind of consequences, like it or not as a top athlete Mayweather needs to acknowledge the fact that he is a role model and should act accordingly.
But with an upcoming fight to put his focus and energy into both Mayweather and the fans get what they want. Floyd should be busy enough not to be tempted into saying anything too damaging to himself or offensive to others, and he still gets the attention he seems to crave.
The fans would have the chance to either tune in or voice their disgust over his remarks by boycotting the whole event. If the pay per view buy rates were to drop perhaps even gaining the attention of his sponsors, who seem to be ignoring the whole thing and hoping it will go away.
Sam Taylor, Pittsburgh: "Floyd needs to fight Williams or Martinez if he wants to keep calling himself the best there is, not even mentioning Pacquiao who he has the perfect style to beat anyway"
Dean Benton, Philly: "Floyd was obviously worried his sponsors would drop him hence the apology, I hope his next fight is soon and that he sells less than Pac and Margo"
Source: http://www.examiner.com
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