Mayweather no people’s champion
Las Vegas, May 4: For all that Floyd Mayweather says it’s not in his make- up to lose, there’s one fight he just can’t seem to win.
Mayweather burnished his perfect ring record and reputation as a consummate craftsman with a 12- round unanimous decision over Manny Pacquiao on Saturday only to depart the MGM Grand Garden Arena to a chorus of jeers.
It was an unequivocal victory that stamped the 48- 0 American the best of his era.
But in the crowning moment of his career, the 38year- old champion was defiant in the face of the evidence that his undeniable skills haven’t earned him a place in the hearts of boxing fans of greats like Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson and Sugar Ray Leonard. Mayweather professes not to care. “A 19- year career with no punishment on the body — and the money,” he says of what he considers the defining characteristics of his greatness.
Those hallmarks, however, diminish him in the eyes of some. Mayweather’s impressive resume lacks the kind of wars that make the greatest ring theater: Ali versus Joe Frazier, Marvin Hagler versus Thomas Hearns.
Although he’s ridden his perfect record to a reign as the highest- paid sportsman in the world, his insistence that the money is the goal makes him hard to root for.
Making it even harder is a string of incidents of violence against women — including a two- month jail stint for assaulting the mother of three of his children.