By Sean Crose
Floyd Mayweather conducted a lengthy interview with FightHype which was posted online on Wednesday and which will undoubtedly reverberate throughout the fight world. Mayweather, appearing quite serious, discussed everything from a potential fight with archrival Manny Pacquiao to racism in boxing.
Mayweather pretty much started the interview by stating “the time is right and the time is now” for a fight between he and PacMan. Yet Mayweather also made it perfectly clear who he thought the star of the show was. “Mayweather promotions is the A-side,” he argued.
That being said, the man known as Money also made it clear that he hasn’t always been the A-side in big money bouts himself. “He chose the weight,” Mayweather said of former superstar opponent, Oscar De La Hoya. “He chose the gloves, he chose the arena. Basically, he chose everything. All I had to do was show up.”
Mayweather made it clear he was just fine with that arrangement. After all, he knew that Oscar was the A-side of their bout. Yet the pound for pound king also had plenty to say about De La Hoya’s recent business dealings with fellow promoter Bob Arum.
“They’re working as partners because he (De La Hoya) done Richard Schaefer totally wrong,” Mayweather said. “Richard Schaefer is a great guy. He’s a good, stand up, honest guy. And I think Oscar and Bob is very intimidated by me, Al Haymon, and Richard Schaefer and Stephen Espinoza working together.”
Yet Floyd wasn’t finished.
“When People say Bob Arum is in the way,” he stated, “that’s the difference between me and Pacquiao. I’m in control. When I say I’m ready to go, I’m ready to go. Pacquiao fights when Bob Arum tells him he has to fight. I fight when I want to fight.”
Naturally May 2nd, 2015 came up during the interview. For that’s the day Floyd wants to fight Manny. It also seems like it’s the day Canelo Alavarez wants to fight Miguel Cotto. Arum, for the record, has publicly taken the side of Canelo by insisting that a Mexican fighter should be fighting on or near Cinco De Mayo.
“Bob Arum is saying that he don’t want to fight May 2nd, that that’s a Mexican holiday,” Mayweather said. “But if I was his fighter, he would be saying: ‘You know what? Whatever Floyd says, let’s do it.’
Being Floyd Mayweather, Money summed the situation up in a way that only he could.
“I put it like this – since they feel like May 2nd is a Mexican holiday…I say: “You know what? I respect you guys – fight in Mexico.”
Like him or not, one can always count on Floyd being Floyd. The man even delved into the issue of racism during the course of the twenty plus minute interview. “It’s a lot of racism that goes on in the sport of boxing,” he claimed. “Because if I was a white American fighter with the same aura, the same style, the same pizazz, I’d be a multi billionaire…a multibillionaire.”
Money and prestige were indeed big subjects during the interview.
“The last time I checked,” Mayweather said, “I hold the record for pay per view, I hold the record for grossing the highest gate, I hold the record for making the most money for one night and the list goes on and on.”
Mayweather clearly holds such matters in high regard when it comes to the negotiation process – not that he shouldn’t. ““Look at his (Pacquiao’s) pay per view numbers,” he stated. “Look at my pay per view numbers.”
While there’s little doubt Floyd’s recent pay per view numbers are better than Manny’s, there’s possibly even less doubt that a fight between the two men would bring in numbers that would be astronomical. Sadly, the interview gave no indication whether or not that fight is close to becoming a reality.
