Floyd Mayweather Didn't Like Episode 3 of 24/7

Who knew he had an inner Ebert? Floyd Mayweather gave a thumbs down to the third episode of HBO’s Floyd Mayweather-Miguel Cotto 24/7 miniseries, which debuted on Saturday evening.

“I want to apologize to all my fans and viewers who watched 24/7 last night,” Mayweather Tweeted after the show. “I wasn't pleased with this weeks episode of 24/7. Me and my film team are providing Bentley Weiner with exciting content which she is not using. We really needed the producers from Mayweather-Hatton 24/7 to come back to HBO give the fans and viewers more excitement.”

Weiner is a director and coordinating producer at HBO.

To open, we see Floyd in the AM, two weeks before fightnight. He’s at a fund raiser for Habitat for Humanity, and we hear the boxer donated $100,000 to the cause. The boxer says that he likes to give back a lot to the community, to charities. “Money don’t make me, I make money,” he says. He pooh-poohs the notion that some are not materialistic, insisting that comes from the mouths of the empty-pocketed. We hear more from his philosopher side. The originator of “Beauty is only skin deep” is “an ugly m———r,” he believes. Those who believe the boxer could be a different sort of influence on the young and/or impressionable shook their heads in dismay or disgust at this display.

Floyd then runs a 5K for the cause, and cheers on a man of apparent Asian descent, who he refers to as “Pacquiao.”

Floyd then hits Bath and Body Works, and with pal 50 Cent mocks Cotto, for sleeping alongside pal Bryan Perez, which viewers saw in episode 2. They put on bike helmets, and draw a crowd in the mall. Fiancee Miss Jackson then buys two pairs of shoes for $11,000. (Full disclosure: I am not able to wrap my brain around such conspicuous consumption, and, frankly, look down upon it, seeing the world in a big picture, with so many not having enough to eat. Not to single out Miss Jackson, mind you…I find extreme wealth off-putting, whether that wealth is in the hands of a CEO, or a saint, like Oprah Winfrey. After you accumulate $10 million, when do you start saying, “Enough?” Ever? “In a country well governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of. In a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of,” Confucious said. Then again, it is wise for me to consider the Teddy Roosevelt advice: “Probably the greatest harm done by vast wealth is the harm that we of moderate means do ourselves when we let the vices of envy and hatred enter deep into our own natures.” Finally, consider this quote by Seneca, when you consider that with his vast stacks, Mayweather still has to stay in a cell, at the request of the state of Nevada, next month: “For many men, the acquisition of wealth does not end their troubles, it only changes them.”)

In Florida, Cotto is seen in the gym. He says he is back to being happy in training (as opposed to in years past, when he was sparring with uncle Evangelista.) Trainer Pedro Diaz and Osvaldo Nardello watch Cotto. Nardello takes a blood sample from the fighter’s ear lobe after the sixth round of sparring to measure lactic acid presence. Too much means the athlete isn’t in optimal shape, and he will have trouble, because his tissues won’t be able to remove it from the system. The results are not shared. The trainer says Cotto is in top condition, for the record.

Mayweather is then back to work Monday. He rants about Cotto sleeping with Perez, and notes that the Puerto Rican touched Perez on the behind in the last episode, and the inside of that region. His posse giggles. Floyd takes out a stack of money, and jokes that he will give Cotto dough to rent a bigger place, so he can apparently quell behavior which makes Floyd uncomfortable.

In the gym, it is 11 days before the fight. Floyd says he will be in his zone, like Willie Beamen, a character in “Any Given Sunday” played by Jamie Foxx. “I know Cotto’s a quiet killer. I’m a loud killer,” Floyd says. Trainer Uncle Roger says Floyd is more sharp for this bout than any since his 2001 tussle with Diego Corrales, then 33-0. Floyd TKOd the late hitter in the tenth, scoring five knockdowns. Floyd reminisces with Roger as he drives, and munches onion rings and fries and a burger. Floyd says he thinks he has five more fights in him after this one, and that he hopes to fight at the end of 2012, so he can properly build the pay per view. Roger sacks out in the passenger seat, and Floyd says he’s tired because the trainer has given his all to the boxer for 16 years.

In Florida, Team Cotto does an early AM track workout. Cotto twirls himself dizzy and then shadowboxes, perhaps to approximate getting buzzed in the fight, and fighting on. Later, Diaz is seen chilling with Cuban pals. Odlanier Solis, the heavyweight, is present. He’s trained by Diaz. The trainer, who defected five years ago, said it has been hard leaving family behind, but that he is pleased overall, though he has more to learn about the craft.

In Vegas, we see Floyd calling for sparring in The Doghouse. He heads to the eye doctor, and probably shouldn’t drive after a procedure, but does. He ignores doctor’s orders to take it easy, and heads to the gym. He mocks Cotto’s style, and says not everyone performs at their best on the big stage.

Team Cotto eats a feast. The absence of his dad, who died two and a half years ago suddenly in Puerto Rico, is discussed. There is a gym named after Don Miguel in Orlando. Since he died, the boxer feels the loss, he admits. He thinks dad sees the team working together. Cotto says, “I know this is my moment to shine.”

Floyd says he doesn’t consider the possibility that he will lose. He calls that “believing.”

“Cotto ain’t ready to die, I’m ready to die May 5,” Floyd declares.

May 5, it will be Resurrection against Perfection, the narrator states, Reality with No Escape. The last image we see is Cotto, with furrowed brow. In my mind, it should be furrowed. Readers, your thoughts on the episode?

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