Mayweather To Appear on “Jim Rome”

LOS ANGELES (March 12, 2013) – JIM ROME ON SHOWTIME returns for its second season tomorrow, Wednesday, in front of a studio audience with guests Ice Cube, Floyd “Money” Mayweather, Ronda Rousey, Dhani Jones and Dr. Harry Edwards. The episode premieres at 9 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME^®.

Media mogul, actor and rapper Ice Cube sits down with Rome for a one-on-one interview to give his thoughts on current sports and entertainment topics including the L.A. Lakers, the Oakland Raiders, and his new album.

Coming together in a free forum discussion, the first female UFC champion Ronda Rousey, noted sports sociologist Dr. Harry Edwards, and former NFL star Dhani Jones join Rome to debate cheating, sex and religion, and how all three play such a large role in today’s sporting world.

Plus, undefeated, eight-time world champion boxer Floyd “Money” Mayweather joins the program via satellite to tackle Rome’s 10 Questions segment. Mayweather recently announced a unique, groundbreaking revenue-sharing arrangement with Showtime Networks Inc. and its parent company, CBS Corporation. He returns to the ring May 4 to face Robert Guerrero in “MAY DAY: Mayweather vs. Guerrero” produced and distributed live by SHOWTIME PPV^®.

When Rome asks Mayweather what the one thing is that he won’t mess with, Mayweather responds, “A married woman.” To which Rome replies, “Good answer. Good policy.”

JIM ROME ON SHOWTIME, in its second season on SHOWTIME, airs Wednesdays with multiple replays each week on SHOWTIME and SHOWTIME EXTREME^® and availability on SHOWTIME ON DEMAND.

Following are excerpts from this week’s episode:

JIM ROME: Do you trust Dwight Howard at this point?

ICE CUBE: No. Not yet. Not till he re-signs. That’s what it’s all about. How could we when he could just get up and leave on a whim. Until he makes the commitment to the Lakers, how can I make the commitment to him? I love Dwight. I want to see him a Laker. I think he can get up there on the wall and be champion for the Lakers. So it’s on him. Him not being committed has to affect his play. It has to. What’s going to determine it for me is if he remains long-term with the Lakers. And he wears the Laker jacket, you know what I mean. It seems like right now he’s a visitor.

ROME: Between Kobe, LeBron and Michael Jordan, who do you got as the best ever and why?

ICE CUBE: Kobe’s never been cut. I don’t think LeBron’s got the mental fortitude like Kobe Bryant has. I think it’s just what he had to go through in Italy. I just think he’s cut from a different cloth. No disrespect to Michael Jordan and years ago you would never hear me say this. I just think Kobe had the benefit of looking at Michael in a way. I think he’s kept his body in more condition than anyone has ever seen and he’s doing things 17 years later that are just amazing. He never walked away from the game and came back. For some reason I just think Kobe is the true definition of a baller, with nothing else on his mind.

ROME: What’s the difference between someone like Kobe Bryant and Ray Lewis, who have bounced back from adversity, and Tiger Woods? Why hasn’t he bounced back? What’s the difference between him and all the other guys that have come back?

RONDA ROUSEY: I think Mike Tyson said it best when he said a happy fighter is a dangerous fighter. I think you need to enjoy what you’re doing and compartmentalize what you are doing with your professional life. Whenever I see Tiger Woods play golf, he looks pretty miserable. If he could just enjoy what he’s doing and have fun out there and return to where he was at the beginning then I think he can.

Top highlight from Rome’s Quick Hits:

ROME: Used to be the question wasn’t whether or not (Tiger) Woods would run down Jack, but rather how badly he’d smash his mark. But it says here he won’t get there. And it won’t be because of his knee, Achilles, driver, putter or rebuilt swing. It’ll be because of sex. He had too much of that and not nearly enough heart.

Rome’s Sincerely Yours takes on the Bracket Guy in your office pool:

ROME: This year, you’re even more insufferable now that you’ve gone online with all your garbage. Now, you’re the jerk who drops all his 12-5 upsets into his Twitter timeline. Bad enough you’re going to lose all nine pools you entered. You’re also going to lose all 12 of your followers because they’d all rather get catfished than get subjected to one more of you sleeper picks with a ‘please retweet’ chaser. Tell you what; this year, instead of laying out your Elite 8, why don’t you go get an elite date. And don’t talk about your NCAA picks until someone asks you about them, because no one will. Bracket Guy, you are a 16-seed in this tournament we call life. A guaranteed loser every single year.