Floyd Mayweather's Post-Fight Presser: Duck and Dodge
by Scott Christ on Sep 21, 2009 12:44 PM EDT
in Boxing Results and Post-Fight Analysis
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To see the Mayweather post-fight press conference courtesy The RING, click here.
The man is not half as crafty addressing tough questions about taking tough opponents as he is inside the ring slipping punches.
The first reporter addresses something that bugged me the last time I saw Floyd comment on it. When he was recently asked (I believe in a FightHype interview) if he would fight Shane Mosley down the line, Floyd said something to the effect of, "Shane Mosley? Five losses Shane Mosley?"
It was a ridiculous statement. Yeah, Shane Mosley's lost five times. Let's look at Floyd's last few opponents, shall we?
| Date | Opponent | Opponent's Record (At Time of Fight) |
|---|---|---|
| 2009-09-19 | Juan Manuel Marquez | 50-4-1 |
| 2007-12-08 | Ricky Hatton | 43-0 |
| 2007-05-05 | Oscar de la Hoya | 38-4 |
| 2006-11-04 | Carlos Baldomir | 43-9-6 |
| 2006-04-08 | Zab Judah | 34-3 |
| 2005-11-19 | Sharmba Mitchell | 56-4 |
| 2005-06-25 | Arturo Gatti | 39-6 |
So, in short, who does he want to fight? One guy on that list had a spotless record, and it was Hatton, who was coming up in weight. Marquez came up in weight by two divisions with four losses, and then Mayweather couldn't even be bothered to so much as make the catchweight they agreed upon.
He dodges the Shane Mosley question here, calling him a good fighter, but saying simply that Mosley has a fight coming up. That fight (Andre Berto on Jan. 30 is what I assume Floyd is referencing) isn't even finalized, and is four months away. Mayweather, if he wanted to, could interrupt that right now.
And I do understand he may want to wait to see the Cotto-Pacquiao winner, but what are the odds he fights that guy? Seriously. The money will be an issue, Bob Arum and Floyd don't have good feelings for one another, and if Cotto wins, what makes anyone think Mayweather suddenly wants to fight Miguel Cotto? He didn't want to fight him before. It might be worth a bit more money if Cotto beats Manny, but it was always a money fight. The offers Floyd got might have been a little lower than Top Rank could have really done, let's put it that way.
It may seem like I'm unnecessarily harping on Mayweather, but I'm really not. He's earned every question that anyone has about him, about his guts, his willingness to take stiff challenges. When's the last time Floyd took an opponent you thought might actually beat him? Castillo in 2002? Corrales in 2001? Between the Castillo rematch and the Oscar fight, he barely lost a round.
This also -- without question -- does speak to how good he is, and also why he takes some of the flak that he does. On the one hand, he's so talented and such an amazing boxer that of course you don't think he's going to lose his fights. On the other hand, since he's so good, it's hard to expect anyone to not expect just a bit more sometimes.
I find Mayweather fascinating and frustrating, and I also genuinely enjoy watching him fight a lot of the time. He does things you simply can't do without his natural talent, the boxing skill that was included in his DNA. He just has a habit of saying things that don't add up. He wants to be seen as the best, which is another way of saying he wants everyone to like him. But too often we find ourselves wanting more out of Mayweather, and it's not selfishness on the part of the fans any more than it is when we want to see the best opponents against Manny Pacquiao, Shane Mosley, Miguel Cotto, Juan Manuel Marquez or anyone else at the top of the sport.
Welcome back to boxing, Floyd. Seriously. But the tough questions you were avoiding in 2007 are still there in 2009.
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Mayweather only wants to face undefeated, smaller fighters?
Do I smell Mayweather-Valero in the future?
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
Mayweather - Linares
For the WBC “Diamond Belt.” Oscar will pick Jorge.
"This fight'll be the nastiest thing you'll ever see. I been sober for six weeks, and that makes me vicious."
-- Randall 'Tex' Cobb
Well we all know Jorge Linares could beat Manny Pacquiao…
Bad Left Hook
"Well Howie, I think I'm going to stay outside and outjab him." -- Tex Cobb telling Howard Cosell how he would approach Larry Holmes
by Scott Christ on Sep 21, 2009 1:49 PM EDT up reply actions
This strikes me as a rather negative take on the post-fight presser. I thought Floyd comported himself pretty well, as he usually does after fights. I also heard nothing to dissuade me from thinking that the Mosley fight can very likely still happen. Anyway, for him to actually confirm that he would fight Mosley so soon would have required that the financial side of things already be worked out, which would have been a tall order in this era of negotiations.
Now this doesn’t make me feel any better about the weight issues for his last fight, mind you, but the presser itself actually seemed productive and promising to me.
Boxing writer: "Iran, what are you going to do when you retire?"
Iran Barkley: "Rob your house"
He’s always a 180-degree delight in the post-fight pressers. It’s getting kind of old. “Sure, X is a good fighter, and so is Y,” he’ll say, but then he ends up fighting 887 instead. He never answers tough questions, and the tough ones are about the only questions left.
Bad Left Hook
"Well Howie, I think I'm going to stay outside and outjab him." -- Tex Cobb telling Howard Cosell how he would approach Larry Holmes
by Scott Christ on Sep 21, 2009 2:17 PM EDT up reply actions
"Needs Money" needs to fight Sugar
Maybe Shane ducked in 2006, but that fight needs to happen as far as I’m concerned. Shane can cut off the ring in a way Oscar couldn’t, have a high punch output like Castillo, and he can definitely hurt Floyd if Floyd really got buzzed by Corley
btw video of Shane after fight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SotUImu4Nic
Stevie Wonder could see that Floyd is scared of Shane.
Have the isht that comes out of Floyd’s mouth ie either a contradiction to something he’s said before or, completely ridiculous!! I did not buy his fight with Marquez because I feel he avoids fighters who are a risk and handpicks guys instead. No Cotto, No Mosley etc.
by SmittytheCutman on Sep 21, 2009 2:40 PM EDT reply actions
just watched that post fight conference
and he’s quite simply full of it (head shaking)
I hated every minute of training, but I said, ‘’Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.'’ (Bernard Hopkins)
The numbers will be telling...
Who he fights next I think will have a lot to do with how well the Marquez fight sold.
If it did well they will blurt out the numbers but if it did badly they will try pretty hard to hide them.
Either way though if the numbers were really that bad I think he will go for Pacman next and give him 50-50.
If the numbers are good and show hes a pretty big draw on his own then I suppose we will be seeing Mosley next.
You're just hating now...
You’re beginning to sound like one of the ‘I will never be satisfied..’ writers the more coverage you give PBF….
Cmon, Mosely was fighting guys like a shot Vargas, a Collazo who was smaller and never a threat, and then couldn’t pull the trigger down the stretch vs. Cotto…. and where were YOU then? I bet you weren’t calling for ANYONE to fight Shane, especially PBF. Thats why he got stuck fighting Mayorga. Suddenly he gets ONE dominating win and all of a sudden PBF needs him? Cmon.
Its like everyone else in boxing can PICK and choose their opponents, but PBF needs to fight who the writers want him to fight. And of course the writers have no balls — On one side of their mouth they say…oh..so and so can give him a tough fight, he NEEDS to fight so and so… but as soon as he does, the excuses come pouring in — he shoulda fought the other fighter YEARS ago and it woulda been different, the other fighter was too slow, the other fighter was too small, whatever it is… and then after ALL the excuses, you say…okay..now he needs to fight [FILL IN THE BLANK].
I’ll call it now… Mosely will be TOO OLD, PacMan will be too small, and Cotto will be TOO slow. And after the Cotto fight…they’ll be saying he’s dodging Paul Williams.
Just give the man his props…. admit that all these DREAM matchups are fights that you just WANT to see because you want to see a masterful boxer in what you think is his greatest chance of losing…and admit that whenever he does decide to make one of your dreams come true, you will backpedal and make excuses for the beaten fighter.
and you're just gagging now
that he beat a man who was clearly fighting in a weight class he never belonged in. floyd didn’t prove shit against JMM and he does indeed HAVE to fight mosley, cotto, pacquiao, etc in order to prove something.
The Dude Abides
by battle axe of doom on Sep 21, 2009 9:59 PM EDT up reply actions
oh..so and so can give him a tough fight, he NEEDS to fight so and so… but as soon as he does,
“So and so” never included Ricky Hatton, or semi-retired magazine publisher Oscar, or Juan Manuel Marquez (well, at least not for the last five or six years). No writers here or anywhere else were calling for those fights, only the rabid regional fan bases of those fighters. The real “So and So” included Shane Mosley, Paul Wiliams, Miguel Cotto, Tony Margarito Joshua Clottey and, for some people, even Berto, Quintana and Collazo. In other words, anyone who has been a top-ten legit welterweight in the last three years. Call us crazy, but when Floyd took the welterweight title from Baldomir - the weakest 147 pound champion we’ve seen in thirty years - we wanted to see what else he had and who he could beat. You sound like you don’t want him to fight of these guys, which makes me wonder why you even like boxing.
It’s one thing to capture a title in a division. Hell, there have even been straight up stiffs who have come along at the right time and nabbed a title. But the welterweight division had a strong pulse in 2007-08, and instead of proving himself in a very tough room, Floyd fought Oscar (%50 of his last 8, even getting a gift decision over Felix Sturm) and Ricky Hatton, who no one with a sane mind thought had any business being a welterweight, let alone being in a ring with Floyd. And now he’s fought a blown-up, war-worn 37 year old featherweight. Were you calling or that fight? You must have been the only one. Paul Williams called Floyd out constantly. Margarito ambushed Floyd and got him to agree to a fight on film.. that cheatin’ sunuvabitch even got Floyd to shake on the deal. Cotto had called him out. Shane had called him out. Hell I think, even The Hispanic Causing Panic had even called him out. Who was he waiting for, Nonito Donaire? No. he was waiting for Ricky Hatton.
I have heard that Holly Holm is a legit welterweight. She’s got a loss and a couple of draws on her record, but many consider her among the top 3 pound for pound in the world! She’s a 5’8" southpaw, so no one can say Floyd is taking the easy way out. Maybe he should fight her? At this point, I wouldn’t put it past him.
"This fight'll be the nastiest thing you'll ever see. I been sober for six weeks, and that makes me vicious."
-- Randall 'Tex' Cobb
gagging?
You make some good points, but I’m just saying give him credit for he too being a SMALLER man fighting at a weight even HE shouldn’t be at. BHop went up to Light Heavy AND RJJ went up to HEAVYWEIGHT and took belts from ‘lower class’ guys — (I suppose Tarver wasn’t lower class but if he and Glen Johnson are the top light heavies at the time, you can’t honestly sit here and say he beat top notch competition — division is WEAK)….and those fights put caps on their GREAT careers… but PBF moves up in weight and takes a belt..and just because its him, you not only don’t give him credit, you sit there and expect him to CLEAN out the division. So, make no mistake — I do want to see him fight all of those guys you named, but I don’t sit there and demean the things he ACTUALLY has done while calling for those fights. It seems like you do.
Now onto your main point which is: If a fighter you think is formidable CALLS someone out, they should fight. Thats the basics of it right? Thats BS. Fighters need need to get compensated properly for the risks they take. Margarito and Williams were big risks for little pay at the time. Are you sitting here saying that as his manager, you would’ve said fight those guys or Josh Clottey instead of taking a big time PPV fight or grab a title? Thats just stupid, to be blunt. Any SANE businessman would’ve made the same call. Williams was fighting nobodies at the time, and Margarito only really had Cintron on his record to brag about… but fans like you think that just because those are the TOUGHEST fights for him at the time, he should take them back to back, or he’s ‘ducking’ people. Fighters deserve to make business part of their decision making process — and we as fans can’t expect them to put themselves in the greatest danger possible each fight just to PROVE to us that they are the best.
Another question, why is it cool for Mosely and DLH to come down in weight from ‘54/’60 and call out Mayweather and PacMan and you’re chomping at the bit to see those fights — but Mayweather absolutely dominates 2 smaller fighters in JMM and Hatton and first thing out of your mouth is that they’re blown up/war worn/shot little guys who had no business in the ring. Its a double standard. Also, how did PBF force his WEIGHT or POWER onto ANY of those figthers? If anything, you can say JMM and Hatton’s power didn’t move up with them, but when did they even really TOUCH floyd? So making the argument that he’s hiding behind wait is a misnomer. He dominated those guys with pure speed and skill — and both guys were also P4P at the time.
I can’t wait til he takes the Mosely fight and you claim Mosely is over the hill next year… What fight NOW will make you shut up and give the man props?
both mosley and DLH suck at 154 and 160 respectively. mosley is a true welterweight and nowadays money may can only fight at welterweight as evident by his refusal to drain off an extra 2 pounds. i personally didn’t like the DLH-pacman fight when it was announced, but pacman proved soon after that he can move up easily. JMM proved that he can move up to 135 and while great showed some major weaknesses that nearly everyone and their comatose mother knew PBF was going to exploit.
The Dude Abides
by battle axe of doom on Sep 22, 2009 12:56 AM EDT up reply actions
Mosely was 4-1 at ‘54 — his only loss was to Winky. DLH only lost to BHop and Shane at the higher weights… He actually got WORKED when he fought lower weights (Floyd/PacMan/Trinidad/Shane)….. so I’m not sure why you say they SUCKED at the higher weights. If anything, the proved they weren’t in the same class as the fighters at the lower weights when they decided to throw their hats back in the ring there. Another article had a good point too…which was, Floyd weighed in 4 lb’s under the weight when he fought DLH. With his speed and skill, it didn’t matter — he was a better fighter whether it was a true welterweight fight, a true jr. middleweight fight, or a catch weight. At some point weight makes a difference (natural weight at fight time & strength), but for fighters like Floyd that don’t rely on that weight, I don’t think it really makes a difference.
JMM coulda came in the BIGGER fighter that night and I think he would’ve gotten beaten worse because he would be even SLOWER than he was on Saturday. If being slower than Floyd is a ‘major weakness’, then every single fighter you want Floyd to fight has that same weakness.
mosley was sluggish as hell against mayorga, and DLH was gifted a win over felix sturm. you just can not argue that DLH was good at middleweight with just those two fights. as for the weaknesses, apparently that went over your head. hell you even brought up one of those weaknesses yet somehow manage to screw it all up. jmm never had the speed to contend with mayweather, didn’t have the chin (yes he took some shots throughout the fight and was never KO’d, but you can partly “blame” mayweather’s lack of killer instinct for that), jmm didn’t have the power, and all of this was evident from the day jmm fought baby bull and called out mayweather. look like SC is saying, nobody is taking away from the fact that PBF is an amazing boxer, but for god’s sake this fight wasn’t his career defining performance nor was it outstanding in any way. it was predictable, and PBF simply did what he was supposed to do. he didn’t cement his legacy with this win, but it didn’t hurt him either.
The Dude Abides
by battle axe of doom on Sep 22, 2009 1:32 AM EDT up reply actions
I agree.
Yep, PBF did what he was supposed to do, but like SC says…he OVER did it. It was a complete domination shutout. No top 5 P4P fighter has that done to him. And you’re right JMM never had the speed. Keyword is NEVER. It didn’t matter that he was moving up… Floyd could’ve moved DOWN and he woulda been faster naturally, so my only point is… saying weight is why Floyd dominated isn’t being honest.
I ask again though.. what fight does PBF have to make and win before you say it DEFINES his career and you give him his props. I have a feeling he could SHUTOUT whoever you name, but because he doesn’t close the show with a KO, you’ll have something to say about how he’s amazing/masterful butttttttttttttttt….(and theres always a but) he didn’t have the killer instinct, or he took his foot off the gas pedal, or something else equally insane. Its like unless he KO’s everyone he’s supposed to, or gets into a war to entertain the fans, he’s a waste of talent. Ask Gatti and Corrales (RIP) how far that got them — a few good fights but a short career and long lasting damages. And look at how changing to a more defensive style helped extend the careers of Barerra and PacMan.
I know it seems like I’m a PBF lover, but thats far from the case. I just choose to give credit to boxers, who specialize in hitting and not getting hit in return, and making the fighters you think are great and p4p at the time look like old/washed up/blown up, OVERNIGHT. Thats a tall task, and its time the fans wake up and stop asking the matador to turn into a bull to prove he’s the best.
I do want to see him fight all of those guys you named, but I don’t sit there and demean the things he ACTUALLY has done while calling for those fights. It seems like you do.
Why?
Now onto your main point which is: If a fighter you think is formidable CALLS someone out, they should fight. Thats the basics of it right?
Well, no. The basics of it is “The Best Should Fight the Best.” If the best don’t want to fight the best, because they can make more money fighting lesser fighters, well that’s fine. That’s their prerogative. But you can’t have it both ways. If Floyd avoiding the best fights at welterweight is okay with you, so be it.
"This fight'll be the nastiest thing you'll ever see. I been sober for six weeks, and that makes me vicious."
-- Randall 'Tex' Cobb
I’d like to see him take what seem to be his best challenges, yes. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with preferring that to watching him toy with guys like Juan Manuel Marquez and Ricky Hatton that were not threats at all. Where was I when Mosley lost to Cotto? Praising the performances of both and complimenting a hell of a good fight. Where was I when Floyd beat Oscar? Praising Floyd for outfoxing a man CLEARLY bigger and stronger than he is.
I have never questioned Mayweather’s skill whatsoever. He’s an amazing, amazing talent. And I want to see him test those skills in the best possible fights, because I’m a boxing fan and like good fights. If Mayweather fights and beats any of the three guys we’re talking about (Shane, Cotto, Manny), then I’ll be the first in line to kiss the ring. I do not dislike Floyd, and in fact admire his skills greatly.
And I know you’re saying that these will be the excuses of people who “hate” Floyd, but if he fought them and it turned out that he was just better than Shane, Cotto or Manny, then I would not be surprised. The dude can box his ass off.
Bad Left Hook
"Well Howie, I think I'm going to stay outside and outjab him." -- Tex Cobb telling Howard Cosell how he would approach Larry Holmes
by Scott Christ on Sep 22, 2009 12:12 AM EDT up reply actions
Okay, I see what you’re saying. I just want consistency in the criticism, I guess.
If one matchup between a bigger man/smaller man is GREAT, then they all are in their own right. Just because Floyd is the bigger man sometimes doesn’t mean he’s ducking/dodging other fighters at his natural weight, it just means that in this particular circumstance, he was the bigger guy. Sometimes the smaller guys rise to the occasion and it DEFINES their career, and sometimes they get pounded. Higher weight doesn’t automatically translate into victory, which is why we praise guys for being multi-divisional champions. If there was NEVER a bigger man willing to fight a smaller man for fear of being called out for ‘toying around’ with blown up fighters, those matchups would never take place.
I think the real disconnect is, we as fight fans want to see the BEST fight possible (in our eyes) for our $$$, but from PBF’s standpoint he thinks those fighters should be EARNING a shot to fight him and if it looks like he has to do anything proactive to PROVE to us that he’s the best in the sport, its a slap in the face. He’s the champion, he’s the draw, he has the scalp everyone wants — so he’s the one that deserves the right to sit back and take his time in picking an opponent, not the other way around.
You know what, I didn’t even mean to say he’s ducking or dodging fighters, just the questions right now. So that’s my bad — I should have been much clearer than I was. I don’t know what he’ll do next but I don’t expect it’ll be anything but a fight with one of these three guys. At the end of the day, all I really care about with Floyd is he takes the best fights if he’s going to keep fighting. He’s so good that it should be expected of him to do that is the major point, IMO.
Bad Left Hook
"Well Howie, I think I'm going to stay outside and outjab him." -- Tex Cobb telling Howard Cosell how he would approach Larry Holmes
by Scott Christ on Sep 22, 2009 1:50 AM EDT up reply actions
For the record, there is a search function here
And let the record show that Scott wanted Mayweather-Mosley all the way back in June 2007, when he beat Oscar, and February 07, when Mosley beat Collazo. So this isn’t because of one recent win or anything. Unfortunately, the record doesn’t go back much further than that.
http://www.badlefthook.com/2007/7/15/221755/741
http://www.badlefthook.com/2007/2/11/01558/6608
Personally, I feel the same way. He doesn’t NEED to face Mosley, but other than Williams (and I acknowledge that the money just isn’t there for Mayweather-Williams to happen), Mosley is the toughest stylistic matchup out there for Floyd, and probably is the fight I’d give him the most credit for.
Bad Left Hook - The SB Nation boxing blog
"Baseball is played on the field, not on a calculator."
Floyd should fight either Pac-Cotto winner or Mosley. He has alot of haters and i imagine most of them are more casual fans that dont see his skill for what it is. I can see how he would’nt much care what they think since they dont know much about the sport.(“they dont know shit about boxing” as Roger would say) but they are the ones that will buy the PPV in big numbers and when they do they hear the same names coming up over and over. They will think he is avoiding them. But if he gets in there and the commentators are saying this is a huge test for Folyd, this is the best he can face etc, they will start to realise how great he is.
I wouldn’t mind if he took on Shane soon then had a soft touch then took on another top name, as long as we got to see a challenge for him.
"Good, so it can’t go any deeper." - Arturo Gatti after being told he was cut to the bone
The Questions
For arguments sake lets say that Floyd has 7 fights left in his career. There are two huge question that Floyd cares about answering.
1. Will his legacy be greater if he goes 7-0 vs. so-so competition or if he goes 5-2 or 4-3 vs. very good competition?
2. Which of these two options will make Floyd more money?
These are the only two questions that Floyd cares about so it really is the only questions we should really consider. If you don’t like the answers to these questions, remember that you have the power to change it.
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