Back in 2004 when Floyd Mayweather was the #1 mandatory challenger for Vivian Harris’s WBA Junior Welterweight title, Harris actively tried to make the fight. Of course, the 5-10 tall, hard-hitting Harris was in his prime back then and far too dangerous an opponent to be selected by Floyd. Harris expressed some prophetic statements about Floyd and his tendencies to duck the best and handpick the easiest…
“Floyd Mayweather is scared of me. He makes it seem like he’s not scared of me. He’s scared of me,” Harris told BoxingInsider.com in an article titled “Is Floyd Being Protected?” in December of 2004.
“I met Roy Jones recently and we talked a little bit. And I respect these guys because those guys step up to the plate and they give everybody a shot. If they lose, they lose. If they win, they win. So Floyd wants to stay on the top by fighting (Henry) Bruseles? But what is that? You can’t call yourself a pound for pound to fight a no-name like that.”
“Trinidad came back after two years. He didn’t have to fight a tough guy like Mayorga. He could have taken a few easy fights. But he’s a true champion. Trinidad just wants to show the world he is one of the best. Floyd don’t want to do that. Floyd fought Chop Chop (Corley) who just lost – all right, we’ll give him that. We’ll give him one easy one. Then after beating (Corley) he talks like he’s pound for pound. Then he’s offered to fight Vivian Harris. He could get more money than me. (The deal with Main Events was) if he beats me he gets 50-50 with Gatti-Leija winner (Gatti was also promoted by Main Events). And he turned it down. He’d rather face Bruseles because he don’t want to face Vivian Harris. Remember, Floyd was my mandatory at one time. Floyd dropped out, that’s how (Oktay) Urkal became my mandatory for the second time. My inside source told me Floyd turned me down three times. All the greats in boxing want to stay on top. They want to prove they are the best by fighting the best. Floyd wants to fight Bruseles.”
“The boxing world needs to talk about that. The boxing world needs to tell Floyd to step up. Step up and fight the best.”
SIX YEARS later Floyd is finally fighting with the very best competition – after (rumor has it) some heavy forcing by HBO and Golden Boy, Floyd Mayweather, against his will, has accepted the challenge to fight a highly dangerous rival on May 1 and will meet Shane Mosley in Las Vegas in a much-anticipated clash of welterweight titans.