Having Tea With Floyd Mayweather Jr.
by
Buster Paris
1/25 - I don’t understand why Floyd Mayweather isn’t more of a draw for boxing crowds or even major sports writers, but the fact is that he just isn’t. Mayweather is being touted as one of the best pound for pound fighters out there. He’s undefeated in now 33 fights.
Saturday night, January 22nd he fought Henry Brusles in his second fight at 140 pounds. I’m willing to stipulate here that this fight wasn’t going to be anything special and that the outcome was never in doubt. This might be one answer to why he’s not a draw. He keeps fighting opponents who aren’t a big threat.
His last fight with DeMarcus “Chop Chop” Corley, which was Mayweather’s first venture in the 140-pound crowd, I thought, was an impressive win. Corley’s a tough opponent and is a southpaw and I’m a firm believer that it’s never easy to fight a southpaw.
As far as last night goes there are four things worth noting.
The first is Mayweather’s speed. He is astonishingly fast and would hit Brusles and be long gone before Henry could even think about a counter punch.
There’s a school of thought that says Floyd is afraid to get hit. I don’t think it’s a fear of getting hit as much as it’s a matter of why get hit. Which brings me to my second item worth mentioning, round four.
Rounds one through three showcased Floyd’s lightning fast reflexes, hand and foot speed and his ability to glide around the ring unscathed. Then in round four, he stood in the center of the ring where he showed us that he could fight in a phone booth. He and Henry stood there shoulder-to-shoulder and head to head as they exchanged punches in a Roberto Duran tough as nails style. That showed me that Floyd is not afraid to get hit and is not afraid to mix it up.
The third thing that deserves mentioning happened in rounds seven and eight and after having reading fellow TalkingBoxing writer Richard McManus’ article, [here] I’m not sure how to feel about it.
In round seven Jim Lampley and Roy Jones Jr. were discussing football, which I suppose is a good indicator how the fight was going. Jim asked Roy who he liked for Sunday’s game between the New England Patriots and the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Fighting from the ropes Mayweather turns to Jones Jr. and Lampley and says “the Patriots”. I laughed out loud.
Then in round eight, Jim actually asks Floyd who he likes between the Falcons and the Eagles and Floyd answers that he picks the Falcons and that he likes Michael Vick and then seconds later he releases a speedy combination that wobbles Henry Brusles (remember him, the opponent)
Floyd Mayweather is so easily winning this fight. Is so in complete control and so fast that he has the time to have a conversation with Jim Lampley. I thought that was great. I laughed and shook at my head. I felt a little bad for Brusles, that’s got to be a little embarrassing, but I thought it was so cool.
After reading McManus’ article it caused me to rethink the happenings of round seven and eight, the conversations from inside the ring to outside the ring. McManus says:
“…the fact that this exchange was even able to take place says two things. One, it says that Floyd is only using about 3% of his natural talent at any given time. His mind always appears to be elsewhere.”
And....
“Another truth that this exchange reveals is that there is an unusual silence in the arena when Floyd fights, making it possible for him to carry on normal conversations with people in the crowd.”
Reading that stopped me in my tracks and he’s right. Mayweather’s supposed to be fighting and his mind is elsewhere. This tells me though that he’s not challenged in the ring and it addresses my initial question about Mayweather. Which is why isn’t he more of a draw for boxing crowds or even a draw to major sports writer.
Ironically maybe this will now cause more of an interest for the fans.
My friend sent an e-mail out to me and a bunch of us knuckleheads. He specifically brought up the conversation moments of rounds seven and eight of last nights fight:
“…next Mayweather fight, we gotta get together...hopefully it'll be against Gatti…”
So maybe Floyd is finally appealing to the fans. I’m not suggesting that he and Jim start having tea together in between rounds, but this inside joke that started between Lampley and Mayweather has my fellow knuckleheads talking and there’s a big interest in a “Pretty Boy” Floyd vs. “Thunder” Gatti bout for reasons more than just boxing skills.
Fourth and final item worth mentioning: What’s next for the Pretty Boy?
He needs to start facing some quality opponents it’s enough of the Henry Brusles for now. At the end of the night when Larry Merchant was interviewing Floyd he said that he wanted to fight four times in 2005. That he wanted to fight Arturo Gatti and that if Shane Mosley and Oscar De La Hoya come down to 147 pounds that he’ll fight them too. I could even see a match up with Miguel Cotto, but I don’t think Miguel is ready just yet.
This is exactly what he needs to do, face top quality opponents.
I know that my buddies and me would buy a Pay-Per-View fight that featured Mayweather and Gatti and who knows, maybe more sports writers would show up as well.
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