Mailbag: Pacquiao and Mayweather Fans Weigh In

February 20th, 2010

There have been several interesting responses to the 8CN article, “Mayweather Gave Pacquiao a Chance, But No More Mr. Nice Guy”. Here are a few:

W: Why didn’t you put Mayweather’s full comment in the article because he said if his fight sells more then he wants more money? Don’t be so biased.

LS: Thanks for taking the time to respond. It is implied and understood by all the Mayweather vs. Mosley is expected to generate more money. We’ve all heard that. Even if it does, that still doesn't make Mayweather "the man". I didn't leave anything out that would have made any difference.

W: Without putting that in makes him seem like an [a-hole] but with that in it will show people a justifiable reason why he would want more. Pac vs. Cotto sold more than May vs. Marquez and that was Pac’s reason for demanding a 50-50 split.

LS: It seems that he doesn’t really want to fight Manny Pacquiao. That's what it looks like to the world. B-Hop knew. He said the fight wouldn’t happen. Scoop Malinowski reported early-on that George Peterson, who’s an associate of Mayweather’s advisor, said that they decided after Pac-Cotto that May won’t fight Pac.

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J: Regarding your initial paragraph below:

“Floyd Mayweather Jr. is an interesting character. He’s a man of extremes. Inside the ring he is undeniably brilliant, but outside of it, his egomaniacal persona can only be evidence of one of two things. He is either an extremely insecure individual hiding behind a carefully constructed and perfectly maintained facade, or he has severe delusions of grandeur. There’s no other possibility. Take your pick.”

I think you are right about that, and you said it succinctly. My take on it is that Floyd suffers from the latter (mentioned above.) He has illusions of grandeur, which are congruent with extreme narcissism. He is able to block out or compartmentalize reality so as to conform it to his view of things. He is interested only in the glorification of his persona, to the point that he is out of touch with himself as a human being.

Previously I had been a Floyd fan; who can argue with his talents in the ring? But his narcissism results in such a toxic and off-putting persona that I can feel no more human support for him.

LS: Some have compared his persona to that of Muhammad Ali. He is no Ali. Ali wasn't delusional, and at the same time he certainly wasn't insecure. He was able to pull off his egotistic style because it was considered to be more of an act—a role he played that served well to hype upcoming events and drive his opponents nearly insane with anger. It worked for Ali because he was funny. He was cool about it. He wasn’t serious. Floyd seems to be very serious.

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RM: What you seem 2forget is that PBF is talking in present-tense. He’s assuming that he is gonna beat Mosley! Which if he does than who care about Pacroid's WBO Catch-Weight title? PBF would have the upper hand in negotiations between he and Pac. True they both have big fights coming up, but Clottey is def. not Mosley and the fight between Money and Sugar will def. sell more than a bout between Pac & Clottey. With all that 2gether you tell me, why wouldn't PBF ha

LS: Between the two, Pacquiao is the bigger draw. People are going to tune in to watch May vs. Mosley because there's a chance that he may lose. That's what the vast majority of boxing fans want to see. I've read a lot and talked to a lot of fans. Mayweather's a huge draw because a lot of people want to see him take the 10 second mat-nap. Does Mayweather really have such a large fan-base? There are hundreds of polls on the Internet that answer that question, and the answer is no. Thanks for taking the time to comment.
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PM: Pac doesn't want to do random blood testing, which is fine because Floyd is an a-hole so he doesn't have to listen to what he says. But what about having some sort of third party watch them within the month leading up to the fight? It will be weird, but to get the biggest fight in history in PPV terms on...well you might have to take crazy measures like this. What do you think about that?

LS: I don't know. I have serious doubts that we'll ever see these guys fight. I just hope I'm wrong. Can you imagine the frustration and anger that Manny would unleash in the ring if the fight were to take place? Can you imagine if Mayweather smiles after Manny lands a good shot? Can you imagine how that would fire Manny up? Mayweather’s defensive genius against Pacquiao’s non-stop offensive mastery…Ah, it's the stuff a boxing fan's dreams are made of. I want to see it. Let us pray....

Contact Lorne: lscoggins@8countnews.com
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