Maybe I'm Too Hard on Pretty Boy

Yes, I bash Pretty Boy almost every chance I get. After watching 24/7, I started hating him with a passion. He's such a cocky asshole, and an idiot. His entourage is gigantic, and I think he's got about 20 people on his payroll that he's probably never even talked to. He's your stereotypical "black boxer", which was fine, until I realized the roots of the stereotype.

Sugar Ray Robinson, regarded as the greatest boxer of all time by most, was the first "Floyd Mayweather Jr." all the way back in the 40's and 50's. His record of 128-1-2( before his first retirement in 1951) is absolutely nuts. He’s the reason the term “Pound for Pound” was invented and now held by Pretty Boy. Boxing fans only hear about all of Sugar Ray's allocates in the ring, so I bet you didn't know that:

[Sugar Ray Robinson] was the pioneer of boxing's bigger-than-life entourages, including a secretary, barber, masseur, voice coach, a coterie of trainers, beautiful women, a dwarf mascot and lifelong manager George Gainford.

Yes, he had a dwarf mascot that cheered for him at fights, which ultimately dwarfs (pun entirely intended and gay) even this ridiculous Pretty Boy Floyd clip (watch the first 2 minutes):



I guess I would have hated Sugar Ray Robinson as well. I'm going to try to be a little less critical of Floyd now that I know boxing has a rich history of ridiculousness. I was under the impression that the guys 50-60 years ago just went out and fought. I didn't know they were driving around flamingo Pink Cadillacs.

When Robinson later returned to Paris in 1962—where he was still a national hero—to get him to cross the seas the French had to promise to bring over his masseur, his hairdresser, a guy who whistled while he trained, and his trademark Cadillac.

Can you imagine being the guy who gets paid for whistling as someone boxes? Absolutely nuts, and read this quote taken from 'Pound for Pound: A Biography of Sugar Ray Robinson''

Ego was part of what made Robinson great, and it also drove his considerable personal excesses, including insatiable womanizing, lavish spending, and a preening narcissism not immediately distinguishable from that of a child.

If I hadn't told you that quote was from Robinson's biography, you might have assumed I was talking about Floyd. Sadly, PBF possesses strikingly similar characteristics to the greatest fighter of all time.

Pound For Pound
Sugar Ray-Wiki

I Want to Fight Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

“I will beat him all the way back to England.” This quote came from the “retired” Floyd Mayweather, Jr. a little over a month ago, and no, he wasn’t talking about David Beckham. Shockingly, Floyd is ready to jump back in the ring, and the fight is being promoted by Golden Boy. Wow, Floyd really is sincere in what he says. He ragged on Golden Boy Promotions and said he was done with boxing. Three months later, he’s announced another fight with them.

As suspected, “Pretty Boy” will meet Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton on December 8th at the MGM Grand in Vegas. Yippie! Hatton has already said he’s going to fight at his junior welterweight size of 140 lbs. This means he’ll be fighting not only a quicker, more skilled fighter, but one that weighs 7 lbs more. Mayweather will almost certainly come in at the 147 lb. requirement as he realizes that Hatton (or any one for that matter) isn’t going to be able to beat him with speed. This is such a ridiculous fight. If money didn’t exist, there would no plausible explanation for it.

Mayweather said he’s going to knock Hatton out, and unfortunately I think he’s right! I mentioned this many articles ago when the fight seemed to be in the workings, but I’ll say it again: on fight night, Ricky Hatton’s face will be a dart board, and Mayweather will be throwing bull’s eyes. How can Ricky expect to use his style of always moving forward and bullying if he’s 7lbs lighter than Floyd? I just don’t get it. Mayweather has faster hands/better foot speed than anyone in boxing, so trying to beat him with those two things is like buying diapers 2hrs after taking an ALLI.

Look how Castillo (almost) beat Floyd. He just kept moving forward and bullying Mayweather. He wouldn’t let Floyd off the ropes. He was bigger, and Floyd didn’t know what to do. Hatton’s only chance is taking a similar approach. Bulk up, take chances, catch Floyd on the ropes, and turn it into a fight.

I’ll just come out now and predict a knockout in the middle rounds. I don’t think Hatton’s going to be able to do anything! He doesn’t move his head and walks right into big punches. Floyd isn’t a power puncher, but with his technical prowess, he will slowly dismantle Hatton. I can’t wait to see Hatton’s face in between the 4th and 5th round if he’s still in the fight. He’s going to look ridiculous.

I just wish Floyd would have taken a fight with Cotto! I swear that article about PBF dodging fights and being overrated is coming. If he keeps it up, I might just have to challenge him myself. I could get down to 147 lbs in 1 month. Hell, it’s only 12 pounds.


This Weekend: Eric Morales (48-5) and David Diaz (32-1) are fighting in Chicago Saturday night at the Rosemont Horizon (I don’t know the new name of the arena, so I’m still calling it by the old one). Morales goes after his fourth world title in a fourth diffrent weight class, and Diaz is attempting to measure himself against one of boxing’s true legends. I still haven’t decided whether or not I’m going to go to this fight, but if I do, I will keep a running journal. I wish I had a laptop, so I could do some ringside blogging, and then have my “corner man” translate it into Spanish. Please check out HBO on Demand (if you have it) and watch the short highlight reel of Morales. If not, got to Youtube and check out some highlights of him vs. Marco Antonio Barrera. He has been in some freakin’ battles. The man is a warrior, but at 31 he may have already fought too many times and taken too many big punches.

I think Diaz is actually older than Morales, but he’s a lot fresher. He’s fought lesser opponents and hasn’t taken the same abuse dished out to Morales by Barrera and Manny Pacquiao 3x apiece. I haven’t even begun breaking down the fight yet, so you’ll have to wait on my prediction. On the undercard, Julio Cesar Chavez, Jr., an up and coming undefeated welterweight and son of the boxing legend Chavez Sr., will try to show he’s more than just a name. He fought on the Cotto v. Judah undercard, and was impressive from what I remember. I think this one could be worth the PPV cash if you get 4-5 people to throw down on it. HBO will give you three hours of coverage for 5-7 bucks a pop. Kind of like going to a movie, minus all of the sweet Bruce Willis Jackass comments!. (Inside joke)