Fraud Mayweather
Being a pro Pacquiao fan when Mayweather announced that he was coming out of retirement just like everyone else I was very excited at the potential of their possible fight. A fight between these two fighters was an epic battle that would far surpass DLH vs Mayweather in regards to PPV numbers and on par with fights like SRL vs Hagler in regards to what it would have meant for boxing.
We all know what happened and we all know each side will blame the other ad nauseum. Instead of talking about the obvious which are the upcoming fights I would love to hear what people think about an issue that has been bothering me from the night Mayweather and JMM fought which is what some people have called “weight-gate” in regards to Mayweather coming in at 146 for a contractually agreed upon 144 lb fight.
When Mayweather announced his first fight back would be against JMM I agreed on paper it sounded like a smart fight for Floyd coming back. Pacquiao just made short work of the final two people Floyd faced so naturally he took on JMM who was also ranked high in the P4P list. Like always Mayweather the savvy businessman had the perfect plan. After seeing how JMM gave Pacquiao fits years previously I thought well maybe he has a chance, but style wise it was a mismatch from day one. Still I felt it should at least be a competitive fight and I was excited to see Mayweather back in the ring so I decided to get the PPV.
Leading up to the fight I wasn’t following it much in the media, but when I tune into the PPV and start watching they go over the weigh-in and how Mayweather is over by 2 lbs. I think to myself JMM had to gain how much weight and Mayweather comes in overweight? I am sorry, but how much of an advantage does he need and he is the overwhelming favorite. The rest of the fight played out and was so predictably boring you could have fast-forwarded the entire fight and wouldn’t have missed anything.
I know Mayweather fans will say you can’t get on Mayweather for fighting a smart defensive fight, but at the same time Mayweather fans will go off on Pacquiao for picking styles that suite his style of boxing. The same can be said of JMM who is a counter-puncher who doesn’t go on the offensive and Mayweather a defensive mastermind fought a safe fight being more than happy to win on points. Honestly it was like being lulled to sleep like watching paint dry on the wall.
Regardless if the fight was a masterful, boring, safe or a smart display of boxing… a fight is a fight and that is what I paid for, but I also paid for what was being advertised as a 144 lbs fight. What I got wasn’t what I paid for and I honestly feel that Mayweather committed fraud since he never intended to make the agreed upon weight. Now I will admit I am not a writer and just a simple boxing fan, but Dan Rafael who is a well-respected writer for ESPN also shares my opinion.
“However, what really ticks me off is the way this one went down. I truly believe Mayweather, who was 146 pounds, never had any intention of making the contract weight of 144. Ever. Not from the day the deal was done in late April until the time he stepped on the scale Friday.
He treated Marquez like a chump and got away with it by paying him a few extra bucks. But, really, what is $600,000 when Mayweather stands to earn eight figures even after paying Marquez and paying off more than $5 million in IRS debts, especially when all indications are that the pay-per-view is going through the roof and likely will crack 1 million buys? Mayweather also disregarded the Nevada State Athletic Commission’s request for a bout contract (which lists the weight) to be filed in a timely fashion. Instead he waited until just minutes before the weigh-in.”
“Now, did two pounds make the difference between Mayweather winning and losing? Probably not. But that still doesn’t make it right for him to run roughshod over everyone, and it sure wasn’t right for everyone around him to facilitate the FRAUD. MAYWEATHER should have been a professional about it and made the weight.”
As a consumer I feel as though I have been cheated by Mayweather and find it odd how various parties swept this under the rug for him while he went laughing to the bank. Very much like Rafael I doubt the 2 lbs would have made any difference in the outcome of the fight, but simply put Mayweather showed an utter lack of respect for JMM and all the boxing fans who paid their hard earned money to watch this fight. I know I will never get my money back, but I for sure won’t be paying anything to watch Mayweather vs Mosley either and I encourage others to boycott the fight to send a message to Floyd.
One final note…
If Mayweather fans need to feel the urge to bring up Pacquiao and the drug tests I would say this… it is 100% and completely irrelevant to this article. Why? I am talking about Mayweather and how he committed fraud in regards to the 1 million PPV buys from the fight with JMM. Mayweather made an actual profit and a sizable one while he commited fraud. So unless you want to prove you are a street teamer, fanboy or totally illogical keep it to the subject of the article…