Mayweather takes jabs at Merchant
Yes, it’s boxing — where hype can be more valuable than a good left hook. Still, Floyd Mayweather Jr., on an HBO 24/7 show that premiered Saturday night, injected a fun subplot into his $60 HBO pay-per-view fight May 5 against Miguel Cotto: Whether he’ll talk to Larry Merchant.
Mayweather, in the series the network uses as a sort of infomercial for bouts, says there’s no way he’ll talk to HBO boxing analyst Merchant, adding, “You can put 10 Larry Merchants in the ring with Floyd Mayweather, and they could all be 21 (years old), and they’re all going to come up short.”
There’s history to this. After a Mayweather fight in September, Merchant questioned him on-air about whether he’d fought fairly. Mayweather then offered free advice to HBO — that it should fire Merchant. The reason, he told the analyst: “You don’t know (expletive) about boxing.” Merchant responded with something (sadly) rarely heard from sportscasters with athletes: “I wish I was 50 years younger, and I would kick your (expletive).”
And Merchant, 81, later told USA TODAY Sports he felt good about that yearning for lost youth. “I don’t regret much,” he said. “If I were to regret something, it wouldn’t be this. . . . In hindsight, I’m happy the way it came out.” HBO spokesman Ray Stallone said Sunday about the Mayweather fight, “It’s our plan for our announcers to perform their typical roles.”
Mayweather obviously knows marketing. His last four fights each drew more than 1 million buys, and he and Manny Pacquiao are the sport’s two biggest draws. Maybe he and Merchant could choreograph some wrasslin’ -type moves for a showdown.