Why The Heck Is Floyd Mayweather Boxing’s Biggest Star?

Published

11 years ago

June 18, 2013

It was recently announced by Forbes Magazine that Floyd Mayweather is the highest-paid athlete in the world. It was estimated that he’s grossed over 90 million dollars in the last year and didn’t earn one dollar via endorsements. Meaning he made 50 million dollars more than the top-rated golfer in the world, Tiger Woods, and 40 million dollars more than the single best player in the NBA, Lebron James.

Today Mayweather is by far the biggest star in professional boxing. Aside from perhaps Manny Pacquiao, Mayweather is the most relevant fighter in the sport, especially in the United States. It’s gotten to the point that a Mayweather tweet, regardless of whether or not it’s about his next fight or an NFL/NBA game that he bet, keeps the Internet riveted for days at a time. When he fights, ESPN, which doesn’t even cross promote the fights they air on ESPN2, cover the weigh-in for his fights and discuss his personality and career impact on many of their rehearsed good guy/bad guy debate programs.

When one thinks about how Mayweather has become such a huge personality, it’s nothing short of astonishing. Think about it, back in the summer of 2005, Mayweather had to take less money than his opponent, the late Arturo Gatti, just to be part of the main event on a pay per view card. So the question that must be answered is why has Floyd been able to transform himself into the most significant fighter in professional boxing considering……………

*Mayweather wasn’t a gold medal winner at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta in which he participated in. Meaning that there wasn’t much ballyhoo surrounding his pro-debut like there was Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard and Oscar De La Hoya. Actually, Mayweather’s teammate David Reid, the only American Gold medal winner during those games, garnered much more attention and hype than did Mayweather. Basically, Mayweather fought as a pro for nine years before most quasi boxing fans knew of him.

*Mayweather severely lacks the charm and charisma that superstars the likes of Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard and Oscar De La Hoya had in abundance. Floyd isn’t interesting at all to watch or listen to during an interview. And he can’t converse during an interview regardless of the format without trying to convince the interviewer/audience of his greatness. He’s not particularly funny nor is he that insightful, at least that we’ve seen, unless he’s talking about his career. Ali and Leonard would be more entertaining watching an interview than Mayweather is participating in one.

*Mayweather has never been involved in terribly exciting fights. Part of that is due to his mastery of the ring and part of that is because he’s picked his spots when he finally met some of the better fighters he’s faced, especially since he’s campaigned above 135. For most fighters to be a draw, fans need to believe that regardless of the outcome they’re going to see something thrilling or exciting when they watch them fight.

*Mayweather’s style can really only be appreciated by sophisticated boxing observers. He’s not as fast or flashy as Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Leonard, Hector Camacho or Roy Jones were at their best. He’s more of a rich man’s Bernard Hopkins who takes what the opponent gives them and works off of that. Usually, only the real hard core fight fans enjoy watching a smooth technician work, fully aware that they’re probably not going to see a knockout or very memorable punches or exchanges the majority of the bout.

*Mayweather doesn’t destroy anybody. He doesn’t leave fighters splattered on the canvas the way the likes of a Bob Foster, Thomas Hearns or Roberto Duran did during his lightweight title reign. And that’s not a shot at him or his style because his style is one to behold if you know what you’re watching when viewing professional boxing at the highest level. However, the masses who buy Mayweather’s fights want to see knockouts and knockdowns, which cannot be taken for granted when Floyd fights. Yet, enough fringe boxing fans flock to see him when he fights?

Most of the time for a fighter to be the face of boxing, he must be an off the chart talent with charisma the likes of Muhammad Ali or Sugar Ray Leonard (or Roy Jones). Oscar De La Hoya was a huge draw but he was more of a media creation than he was a special fighter. Mayweather may be a little more cerebral than Ali and Leonard, but he wasn’t as skilled, fast or flashy. And unlike Ali and Leonard, Floyd has the perception of avoiding the fighter who at one time was viewed at having the best chance to beat him in Manny Pacquiao. Which is a shame because there has never been a night during the years they’ve been pros that Mayweather wouldn’t have conclusively defeated Pacquiao.

Mike Tyson was the face of boxing during most of his prime. Granted, Tyson’s victories weren’t against opposition that resembled murderers row, but he did get rid of all the B-level fighters he faced in an impressive fashion. Tyson was a draw because he could be hyped and promoted as a genuine life-taker, and his knockout record, despite the opposition, backed it up. So it’s easy to see why quasi boxing fans flocked to watch Mike Tyson. They didn’t care that he wasn’t facing Ali, George Foreman, Joe Frazier or a prime Larry Holmes, they just wanted to see him knock someone out.In contrast, as already established, most of Floyd’s fights don’t end memorably.

When you examine Mayweather’s career, there isn’t that one fight in which you’ll think about where you were 10 years from now when you watched it compared to some of the greats listed above. We’ve seen better boxers than Mayweather, faster and flashier fighters, bigger punchers and greater warriors than Floyd, yet his next fight against an unproven Saul Alvarez this coming September will dominate the boxing world the weeks prior to the fight.

I’m astonished that a fighter who isn’t among the top three boxers, talents, speedsters, punchers, warriors or charismatic personalities of the last 40 years who is known for safely managing his career, is clearly the standard bearer of professional boxing. And with his top five future opponents last names’ being Khan, Alexander, Garcia, Ortiz and Alvarez, that’s not likely to change.

One must conclude that Mayweather realized around 2005 that he wasn’t the kid next door and was best suited to be promoted as the bad guy, despite the fact that he’s more closer to being a decent guy who is insecure about his standing and legacy historically. Floyd learned the business of selling and hyping not just himself but his fights and what him partaking in them should mean to all viewers and fans. Add to that his pristine record of 44-0 (26), fans who root against him have a reason to watch him fight, hoping that they’ll see it live if he ever loses. In the mean time he’s laughing all the way to the dealership to buy his next Rolls Royce, Bentley and Lamborghini.

Mayweather wouldn’t be the face of boxing today if there was an Ali, Leonard, De La Hoya or Tyson around, but they’re long gone. Give him credit for being able to make a safety first counter-puncher who avoided the only fight fans wanted him to deliver, to become the face of what once was the greatest sport in the world. And to Mayweather’s credit, due to what he’s had to work with, he couldn’t have played it any better inside or outside of the ring.

Mayweather didn’t make one dime on endorsements in the last fiscal year, something which is unheard of for someone of that notoriety, which basically says most agree with what’s been said above. Mayweather’s not getting endorsements means that nobody actually cares about him, which makes his PPV numbers even more astounding.

Floyd Mayweather, although he really shouldn’t be, compared to past fighters who were the most important fighters in boxing, is the most important fighter/boxer in 2013. That is totally befuddling if you examine everything surrounding him in totality.

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Frank Lotierzo

Avila Perspective, Chap. 282: Ryan’s Song, Golden Boy in Fresno and More

Published

1 day ago

April 26, 2024

David A. Avila

Avila Perspective, Chap. 282: Ryan’s Song, Golden Boy in Fresno and More

Don’t call it an upset.

Days after Ryan Garcia proved the experts wrong, those same experts are re-tooling their evaluation processes.

It’s mind-boggling to me that 95 percent thought Garcia had no chance. Hear me out.

First, Garcia and Haney fought six times as amateurs with each winning three. But this time with no head gear and smaller gloves, Garcia had to have at least a 50/50 chance of winning. He is faster and a more powerful puncher.

Facts.

Haney is a wonderful boxer with smooth, almost artistic movements. But history has taught us power and speed like Garcia’s can’t be discounted. Think way back to legendary fighters like Willie Pep and Sandy Sadler. All that excellent defensive skill could not prevent Sadler from beating Pep in three of their four meetings.

Power has always been an equalizer against boxing skill.

Ben Lira, one of the wisest and most experienced trainers in Southern California, always professed knockout power was the greatest equalizer in a fight. “You can be behind for nine rounds and one punch can change the outcome,” he said.

Another weird theory spreading before the fight was that Garcia would quit in the fight. That was a puzzling one. Getting stopped by a perfect body shot is not quitting. And that punch came from Gervonta “Tank” Davis who can really crack.

So how did Garcia do it?

In the opening round Ryan Garcia timed Devin Haney’s jab and countered with a snapping left hook that rattled and wobbled the super lightweight champion. After that, Garcia forced Haney to find another game plan.

Garcia and trainer Derrick James must have worked hours on that move.

I must confess that I first saw Garcia’s ability many years ago when he was around 11 or 12. So I do have an advantage regarding his talent. A few things I noticed even back then were his speed and power. Also, that others resented his talent but respected him. He was the guy with everything: talent and looks.

And that brings resentment.

Recently I saw him and his crew rapping a song on social media. Now he’s got a song. Next thing you know Hollywood will be calling and he’ll be in the movies. It’s happened before with fighters such as Art Aragon, the first Golden Boy in the 50s. He was dating movie stars and getting involved with starlets all over Hollywood.

Is history repeating itself or is Garcia creating a new era for boxing?

Since 2016 people claimed he was just a social media creation. Now, after his win over Devin Haney a former undisputed lightweight champion and the WBC super lightweight titleholder, the boxer from the high desert area of Victorville has become one of the highest paid fighters in the world.

Ryan Garcia has entered a new dimension.

Golden Boy Season

After several down years the Los Angeles-based company Golden Boy Promotions suddenly is cracking the whip in 2024.

Avila

Vergil Ortiz Jr. (20-0, 20 KOs) returns to the ring and faces Puerto Rico’s Thomas Dulorme (26-6-1, 17 KOs) a welterweight gatekeeper who lost to Jaron “Boots” Ennis and Eimantas Stanionis. They meet as super welterweights in the co-main event at Save Mart Arena in Fresno, Calif. on Saturday, April 27. DAZN will stream the Golden Boy Promotions card live.

It’s a quick return to action for Ortiz who is still adjusting to the new weight division. His last fight three months ago ended in less than one round in Las Vegas. It was cut short by an antsy referee and left Ortiz wanting more after more than a year of inactivity in the prize ring.

Ortiz has all the weapons.

Also, Northern California’s Jose Carlos Ramirez (28-1, 18 KOs) meets Cuba’s Rances Barthelemy (30-2-1, 15 KOs) in a welterweight affair set for 12 rounds.

It’s difficult to believe that former super lightweight titlist Ramirez has been written off by fans after only one loss. That was several years ago against Scotland’s Josh Taylor. One loss does not mean the end of a career.

“My goal is to get back on top and to get all those belts back. I still feel like I am one of the best 140-pounders in the division,” said Ramirez who lives in nearby Avenal, Calif.

An added major attraction features Marlen Esparza in a unification rematch against Gabriela “La Chucky” Alaniz for the WBA, WBC, WBO flyweight titles. Their first fight was

a controversial win by Esparza that saw one judge give her nine of 10 rounds in a very close fight. Those Texas judges.

In a match that could steal the show, Oscar Duarte (26-2-1, 21 KOs) faces former world champion Jojo Diaz (33-5-1, 15 KOs) in a lightweight match.

Munguia and Canelo

Don’t sleep on this match.

Its current Golden Boy fighter Jaime Munguia facing former Golden Boy fighter Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in a battle between Mexico’s greatest sluggers next week at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on May 4.

“I think Jaime Munguia is going to do something special in the ring,” said Oscar De La Hoya, the CEO for Golden Boy.

Tijuana’s Munguia showed up at the Wild Card Boxing gym in Hollywood where a throng of media from Mexico and the US met him.

Munguia looked confident and happy about his opportunity to fight great Canelo.

“It’s a hard fight,” said Munguia. “Truth is, its big for Mexico and not only for Mexicans but for boxing.”

Fights to Watch

Fri. DAZN 6 p.m. Yoeniz Tellez (7-0) vs Joseph Jackson (19-0).

Sat. DAZN 9:30 a.m. Peter McGrail (8-1) vs Marc Leach (18-3-1); Beatriz Ferreira (4-0) vs Yanina Del Carmen 14-3).

Sat. DAZN 5 p.m. Vergil Ortiz (20-0) vs Thomas Dulorme (26-6-1); Jose Carlos Ramirez (28-1) vs Rances Barthelemy (30-2-1); Marlen Esparza (14-1) vs Gabriela Alaniz (14-1).

Photo credit: Cris Esqueda / Golden Boy Promotions

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Ramon Cardenas Channels Micky Ward and KOs Eduardo Ramirez on ProBox

Published

3 days ago

April 24, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Ramon-Cardenas-Channels-Micky-Ward-and-KOs-Eduardo-Ramirez-on-ProBox

The Wednesday night bi-monthly series of fights on the ProBox TV platform is the best deal in boxing; the livestream is free with no strings attached! Tonight’s episode was headlined by a super bantamweight match between San Antonio’s Ramon Cardenas and Eduardo Ramirez who brought a caravan of rooters from his hometown in Guaymas, Sonora, Mexico.

Cardenas, coached by Joel Diaz, entered the contest ranked #4 by the WBA. He was expected to handle Ramirez with little difficulty, but this was a close, tactical fight through eight frames when lightning struck in the form of a left hook to the liver from Cardenas. Ramirez went down on one knee and wasn’t able to beat the count. It was as if Cardenas summoned the ghost of Micky Ward who had a penchant for terminating fights with the same punch that arrived out of the blue.

The official time was 1:37 of round nine. Cardenas improved to 25-1 with his14th win inside the distance. Ramirez, who was stopped in the opening round by Nick “Wrecking” Ball in London in his lone previous fight outside Mexico, falls to 23-3-3.

Co-Feature

In an upset, Tijuana super welterweight Damian Sosa won a split decision over previously undefeated Marques Valle, a local area fighter who was stepping up in class in his first 10-round go. Sosa was the aggressor, repeatedly backing his taller opponent into the ropes where Valle was unable to get good leverage behind his punches.

The 25-year-old Valle, managed by the influential David McWater, was the house fighter. This was his 10^th appearance in this building. He brought a 10-0 (7) record and was hoping to emulate the success of his younger brother Dominic Valle who scored a second-round stoppage of his opponent in this ring two weeks ago, improving to 9-0. But Sosa, who brought a 24-2 record, proved to be a bridge too high.

The judges had it 97-93 and 96-94 for the Tijuana invader and a disgraceful 98-92 for the house fighter.

Also

In a fight whose abrupt ending would be echoed by the main event, 34-year-old SoCal featherweight Ronny Rios, now training in Las Vegas, returned to the ring after a 22-month hiatus and scored a fifth-round stoppage over Nicolas Polanco of the Dominican Republic.

A three-punch combo climaxed by a left hook to the liver took the breath out of Polanco who slumped to his knees and was counted out. A two-time world title challenger, Rios advanced to 34-4 (17 KOs). Polanco, 34, declined to 21-6-1. The official time was 0:54 of round five.

—

The next ProBox show (Wednesday, May 8) will have an international cast with fighters from Kazakhstan, Japan, Mongolia, and the United Kingdom. In the main event, Liverpool’s Robbie Davies Jr will make his U.S. debut against the California-based Kazakh Sergey Lipinets.

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Haney-Garcia Redux with the Focus on Harvey Dock

Published

5 days ago

April 22, 2024

Arne K. Lang

Haney-Garcia-Redux-with-the-Focus-on-Harvey-Dock

Saturday’s skirmish between Ryan Garcia and WBC super lightweight champion Devin Haney was a messy affair, and yet a hugely entertaining fight fused with great drama. In the aftermath, Garcia and Haney were celebrated – the former for fooling all the experts and the latter for his gallant performance in a losing effort – but there were only brickbats for the third man in the ring, referee Harvey Dock.

Devin Haney was plainly ahead heading into the seventh frame when there was a sudden turnabout when Garcia put him on the canvas with his vaunted left hook. Moments later, Dock deducted a point from Garcia for a late punch coming out of a break. The deduction forced a temporary cease-fire that gave Haney a few precious seconds to regain his faculties. Before the round was over, Haney was on the deck twice more but these were ruled slips.

The deduction, which effectively negated the knockdown, struck many as too heavy-handed as Dock hadn’t previously issued a warning for this infraction. Moreover, many thought he could have taken a point away from Haney for excessive clinching. As for Haney’s second and third trips to the canvas in round seven, they struck this reporter – watching at home – as borderline, sufficient to give referee Dock the benefit of the doubt.

In a post-fight interview, Ryan Garcia faulted the referee for denying him the satisfaction of a TKO. “At the end of the day, Harvey Dock, I think he was tripping,” said Garcia. “He could have stopped that fight.”

Those that played the rounds proposition, placing their coin on the “under,” undoubtedly felt the same way.

The internet lit up with comments assailing Dock’s competence and/or his character. Some of the ponderings were whimsical, but they were swamped by the scurrilous screeching of dolts who find a conspiracy under every rock.

Stephen A. Smith, reputedly America’s highest-paid TV sports personality, was among those that felt a need to weigh-in: “This referee is absolutely terrible….Unreal! Horrible officiating,” tweeted Stephen A whose primary area of expertise is basketball.

Harvey Dock

Dock fought as an amateur and had one professional fight, winning a four-round decision over a fellow novice on a show at a non-gaming resort in the Pocono Mountains of Pennsylvania. He says that as an amateur he was merely average, but he was better than that, a New Jersey and regional amateur champion in 1993 and 1994 while a student New Jersey’s Essex County Community College where he majored in journalism.

A passionate fan of Sugar Ray Leonard, he started officiating amateur fights in 1998 and six years later, at age 32, had his first documented action at the professional level, working low-level cards in New Jersey. The top boxing referees, to a far greater extent than the top judges, had long apprenticeships, having worked their way up from the boonies and Dock is no exception.

Per boxrec, Haney vs Garcia was Harvey Dock’s 364^th assignment in the pros and his forty-second world title fight. Some of those title fights were title in name only, they weren’t even main events, but, bit by bit, more lucrative offerings started coming his way.

On May 13, 2023, Dock worked his first fights in Nevada, a 4-rounder and then a 12-rounder on a card at the Cosmopolitan topped by the 140-pound title fight between Rolly Romero and Ismael Barroso. It was the first time that this reporter got to watch Dock in the flesh.

Ironically (in hindsight), the card would be remembered for the actions of a referee, in this case Tony Weeks who handled the main event. Barroso was winning the fight on all three cards when Weeks stepped in and waived it off in the ninth round after Romero cornered Barroso against the ropes and let loose a barrage of punches, none of which landed cleanly. Few “premature stoppages” were ever as garishly, nay ghoulishly, premature.

With all the brickbats raining down on Weeks, I felt a need to tamp down the noise by diverting attention away from Tony Weeks and toward Harvey Dock and took to the TSS Forum to share my thoughts. Referencing the 12-rounder, a robust junior welterweight affair between Batyr Akhmedov and Kenneth Sims Jr, I noted that Dock’s Las Vegas debut went smoothly. He glided effortlessly around the ring, making him inconspicuous, the mark of a good referee. (This post ran on May 15, two days after the fight.)

Folks at the Nevada State Athletic Commission were also paying attention. Dock was back in Las Vegas the following week to referee the lightweight title fight between Devin Haney and Vasyl Lomachenko and before the year was out, he would be tabbed to referee the biggest non-heavyweight fight of the year, the July 29 match in Las Vegas between Terence Crawford and Errol Spence Jr.

The Haney-Garcia fight wasn’t Harvey Dock’s best hour, I’ll concede that, but a closer look at his full body of work informs us that he is an outstanding referee.

—

While the Haney-Garcia bout was in progress, WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman threw everyone a curve ball, tweeting on “X” that Devin Haney would keep his title if he lost the fight. Everyone, including the TV commentators, was under the impression that the title would become vacant in the event that Haney lost.

Sulaiman cited the precedent of Corrales-Castillo II.

FYI: The Corrales-Castillo rematch, originally scheduled for June 3, 2005 and aborted on the day prior when Castillo failed to make weight, finally came off on Oct. 8 of that year, notwithstanding the fact that Castillo failed to make weight once again, scaling three-and-a-half pounds above the lightweight limit. He knocked out Corrales in the fourth round with a left hook that Las Vegas Review-Journal boxing writer Kevin Iole, alluding to the movie “Blazing Saddles,” described as Mongo-esque (translation: the punch would have knocked out a horse). After initially insisting on a rubber match, which had scant chance of happening, WBC president Jose Sulaiman, Mauricio’s late father, ruled that Corrales could keep his title.

Whether or not you agree with Mauricio Sulaiman’s rationale, the timing of his announcement was certainly awkward.

Haney’s mandatory is Spanish southpaw Sandor Martin (42-3, 15 KOs), a cutie best known for his 2021 upset of Mikey Garcia. A bout between Haney and Martin has the earmarks of a dull fight.

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