Articles

Floyd Provides, He Does Not Care

Published

8 years ago

May 5, 2015

“Floyd cares for his children.”

This is what someone said to me on social media as a partial defense for the otherwise questionable behavior of Floyd Mayweather outside of the boxing ring. It was an interesting point to make. Inarguably, Floyd’s children will never lack for food, shelter, or clothing. I would never say that Floyd does not love his children or show them affection. I assume he does. But are those things alone enough to say that Floyd truly “cares” for his children?

I’m not so sure.

Years ago, I watched an HBO special on Floyd that showed him operating at a 10 on the “Money” scale. Arrogant, pompous, and flaunting, Floyd walked around his children carrying wads of cash as if he were transporting junk mail from the mail box to the catch-all table that resides in every home. He began to carry on about his gambling victory that evening telling his children “A.I. (Allen Iverson) gets you paid.”

Let’s face it, Floyd may be a great boxer—and he most certainly is—but it’s hard to defend him as a person or a parent. Not to get all old fashioned or anything, but you would think a responsible father would want his children to understand the value of a dollar and the potential woes of gambling. That’s not how Floyd operates. I suppose in a way, you could say he’s just being himself, and therefore, “honest.” I suppose on one level that is true. I do question what this sort of behavior does to his kids though. Who knows? Maybe they’ll turn out just fine. Or perhaps at worst they will simply end up with reality shows, a la the Kardashians.

Of course, Floyd’s disregard for the value of income based teaching moments pales in comparison to his treatment of women. There are five different women who have accused Floyd of battering them. He has been charged five separate times with battery. Four of those occasions involved women. That’s bad enough, but wait, it gets worse.

Josie Harris is the mother of three of Floyd’s four children. In 2011, Harris accused Floyd of beating her and trying to break her arm. Eventually, Floyd pleaded guilty to domestic battery in a deal that allowed him to avoid felony charges. He ended up serving 60 days of a 90 day jail sentence in 2012.

That sounds horrible enough on its own, but there’s more. Floyd committed these acts in front of their shared children. It was their nine-year-old son, Zion, who told police, “He was punching her and kicking her. He was punching her in the head and he was stomping on her shoulder.” His ten-year-old brother, Koraun, reported to police that he ran from the house in an effort to find help.

I have never been a parent. I have however been in plain view of this sort of parenting. When I was four years old, my mother entered into her second marriage with a man named Mike. As it turned out, Mike was an angry drunk. His idea of parenting was to shout at and insult me. Sometimes he did far worse. Drop your fork at dinner, take a beating. Spill some soup on the floor, take a beating. Playfully jump on Mike’s back, take a beating. It went like that for nine years.

I wish I could say that was the worst of it. I remember far too many nights of a hand making contact with my mother’s head. And the screaming. All the screaming. The most perilous occasion occurred when he threw my mother down our unusually long staircase. How she did not break her neck, I will never know.

Eventually, my mother found the strength to leave Mike. I know her concern for my well being played a large part in this. As I got older, she feared I would outgrow my diminutive stepfather and challenge him. There were guns in the house, so that probably would not have been a good idea.

Why did my mother stay with him so long? There are essays and studies that go into all the reasons battered women stay with the men who strike them. Lack of self-confidence, fear, and financial security are just three of the common factors that keep women from leaving. It’s that third one I would like to point out here in this space.

When we lived with Mike, we never wanted for anything. Sure, we didn’t have access to the sort of opulence that Floyd Mayweather surrounds himself with, but I never went hungry, I always had new school clothes, and I never had to concern myself about the roof over my head. I did however often worry about what might go on under that roof.

I did not feel cared for by Mike. I felt provided for. I can’t tell you how Floyd’s children feel. Maybe I’m wrong about all of this. I do know that beating the mother of your children in front of those same kids is not caring for them. No matter how many meals, outfits, or homes his wealth provides.

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David Phillips

Articles

2015 Fight of the Year – Francisco Vargas vs Takashi Miura

Published

8 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

The WBC World Super Featherweight title bout between Francisco Vargas and Takashi Miura came on one of the biggest boxing stages of 2015, as the bout served as the HBO pay-per-view’s co-main event on November 21st, in support of Miguel Cotto vs Saul Alvarez.

Miura entered the fight with a (29-2-2) record and he was making the fifth defense of his world title, while Vargas entered the fight with an undefeated mark of (22-0-1) in what was his first world title fight. Both men had a reputation for all-out fighting, with Miura especially earning high praise for his title defense in Mexico where he defeated Sergio Thompson in a fiercely contested battle.

The fight started out hotly contested, and the intensity never let up. Vargas seemed to win the first two rounds, but by the fourth round, Miura seemed to pull ahead, scoring a knock-down and fighting with a lot of confidence. After brawling the first four rounds, Miura appeared to settle into a more technical approach. Rounds 5 and 6 saw the pendulum swing back towards Vargas, as he withstood Miura’s rush to open the fifth round and the sixth round saw both men exchanging hard punches.

The big swinging continued, and though Vargas likely edged Miura in rounds 5 and 6, Vargas’ face was cut in at least two spots and Miura started to assert himself again in rounds 7 and 8. Miura was beginning to grow in confidence while it appeared that Vargas was beginning to slow down, and Miura appeared to hurt Vargas at the end of the 8th round.

Vargas turned the tide again at the start of the ninth round, scoring a knock down with an uppercut and a straight right hand that took Miura’s legs and sent him to the canvas. Purely on instinct, Miura got back up and continued to fight, but Vargas was landing frequently and with force. Referee Tony Weeks stepped in to stop the fight at the halfway point of round 9 as Miura was sustaining a barrage of punches.

Miura still had a minute and a half to survive if he was going to get out of the round, and it was clear that he was not going to stop fighting.

A back and forth battle of wills between two world championship level fighters, Takashi Miura versus “El Bandido” Vargas wins the 2015 Fight of the Year.

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Articles

Jan 9 in Germany – Feigenbutz and De Carolis To Settle Score

Published

8 years ago

January 4, 2016

The Sweet Science

This coming Saturday, January 9th, the stage is set at the Baden Arena in Offenburg, Germany for a re-match between Vincent Feigenbutz and Giovanni De Carolis. The highly anticipated re-match is set to air on SAT.1 in Germany, and Feigenbutz will once again be defending his GBU and interim WBA World titles at Super Middleweight.

The first meeting between the two was less than three months ago, on October 17th and that meeting saw Feigenbutz controversially edge De Carolis on the judge’s cards by scores of (115-113, 114-113 and 115-113). De Carolis scored a flash knock down in the opening round, and he appeared to outbox Feigenbutz in the early going, but the 20 year old German champion came on in the later rounds.

The first bout is described as one of the most crowd-pleasing bouts of the year in Germany, and De Carolis and many observers felt that the Italian had done enough to win.

De Carolis told German language website RAN.DE that he was more prepared for the re-match, and that due to the arrogance Feigenbutz displayed in the aftermath of the first fight, he was confident that he had won over some of the audience. Though De Carolis fell short of predicting victory, he promised a re-vamped strategy tailored to what he has learned about Feigenbutz, whom he termed immature and inexperienced.

The stage is set for Feigenbutz vs De Carolis 2, this Saturday January 9th in Offenburg, Germany. If you can get to the live event do it, if not you have SAT.1 in Germany airing the fights, and The Boxing Channel right back here for full results.

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Articles

2015 Knock Out of the Year – Saul Alvarez KO’s James Kirkland

Published

8 years ago

December 29, 2015

The Sweet Science

On May 9th of 2015, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez delivered a resonant knock-out of James Kirkland on HBO that wins the 2015 KO of the Year.

The knock-out itself came in the third round, after slightly more than two minutes of action. The end came when Alvarez delivered a single, big right hand that caught Kirkland on the jaw and left him flat on his back after spinning to the canvas.Alvarez was clearly the big star heading into the fight. The fight was telecast by HBO for free just one week after the controversial and disappointing Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight, and Alvarez was under pressure to deliver the type of finish that people were going to talk about. Kirkland was happy to oblige Alvarez, taking it right to Alvarez from the start. Kirkland’s aggression saw him appear to land blows that troubled the young Mexican in the early going. Alvarez played good defense, and he floored Kirkland in the first round, displaying his power and his technique in knocking down an aggressive opponent.

However, Kirkland kept coming at Alvarez and the fight entered the third round with both men working hard and the feeling that the fight would not go the distance. Kirkland continued to move forward, keeping “Canelo” against the ropes and scoring points with a barrage of punches while looking for an opening.

At around the two minute mark, Alvarez landed an uppercut that sent Kirkland to the canvas again. Kirkland got up, but it was clear that he did not have his legs under him. Kirkland was going to try to survive the round, but Alvarez had an opportunity to close out the fight. The question was would he take it?

Alvarez closed in on Kirkland, putting his opponent’s back to the ropes. Kirkland was hurt, but he was still dangerous, pawing with punches and loading up for one big shot.

But it was the big shot “Canelo” threw that ended the night. Kirkland never saw it coming, as he was loading up with a huge right hand of his own. The right Alvarez threw cracked Kirkland in the jaw, and his eyes went blank. His big right hand whizzed harmlessly over the head of a ducking Alvarez, providing the momentum for the spin that left Kirkland prone on the canvas.

Saul “Canelo” Alvarez went on to defeat Miguel Cotto in his second fight of 2015 and he is clearly one of boxing’s biggest stars heading into 2016. On May 9th Alvarez added another reel to his highlight film when he knocked out James Kirkland with the 2015 “Knock Out of the Year”.

Photo by naoki fukuda

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