Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s request that he be released from jail because the low-quality food and water have threatened his health was denied by a Las Vegas judge who says he should eat and drink what is being given to him behind bars.

 

Read more (Sports Illustrated)

“But judge,” the argument goes, “he’s going to not be in peak physical condition and likely won’t be in any condition to fight immediately after being released from prison! It is unfair, as well as unprecedented, for a person upon release from jail to not just immediately resume their lives as if they were never in jail at all.”

“Well,” the judge would reply, “then he shouldn’t have beat up his ex-girlfriend in front of their kids.”

To which the prosecutor added “seriously, Floyd, what the fuck?”

Prosecutor Lisa Luzaich scoffed at the complaints during a court hearing Tuesday.

 

“It’s jail,” Luzaich told the court. “Where did he think he was going? The Four Seasons?”

Serious answer? No. Here’s what I bet he expected: to be treated like mob bosses you see in movies that just hold court over everyone in jail and are served fine dining and never EVER would introduce their lips to things water unless it was in a bottle. He didn’t expect to be treated like a convicted criminal and be given things like tap water and prison food, just like he didn’t expect his ex to press charges and for someone to put him on trial and convict him for his crime.

The problem isn’t that, as his lawyers noted in their plea, that all he’s ever known is boxing. The problem is that for the last fifteen years (give or take), Floyd has not known the word “no.” He hasn’t wanted for anything or faced consequences. He crafted a persona around an artificially inflated ego, but at some point he stopped letting the people around him in on the persona and, eventually, he forgot that it was all a lie. A precarious, spectacular, and unsustainable lie.

From Kevin Iole:

A contract sent on Dec. 11, 2009, by Golden Boy Promotions on behalf of Mayweather to Top Rank on behalf of Pacquiao proposed a 50-50 financial split between the sides for a fight that would have been held March 13, 2010.

 

The eight-page agreement is so detailed that it indicates which of the two fighters would step onto the scale first at the weigh-in (Pacquiao), who would walk to the ring first (Pacquiao), who would be introduced first (Mayweather) and who had first choice of the locker room (Mayweather).

 

…

 

Pacquiao’s side declined the 2009 contract offer because Pacquiao objected to Mayweather’s request for the drug testing. Though Pacquiao has subsequently agreed to Mayweather’s demands for random blood and urine testing, the sides have not been able to reach agreement on a deal.

Not mentioned in Iole’s piece but reported by numerous journalists including Dave Meltzer is that Pacquaio’s side claimed at the time that he wouldn’t submit to the testing because he was “scared of needles.”

In the years since, there’s been more BS that has gotten in the way, including but not limited to politics, money, and Mayweather’s legal troubles. Well, what do you expect? That’s boxing for you.

But it’s time for fans to face facts: you may like Pacquaio more than Mayweather, but he ducked legitimate drug testing.

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Ring TV reported over the weekend that Shane Mosley has announced his retirement.

Mosley ends his career with a 46-8-1 record (dropping five of his last seven) and titles in three different weight divisions. It’s a little late, but not too late to preserve his legacy. It’s always better to go out on top, but that didn’t happen. At least now he will and should go down as one of the better fighters of the last few decades.

Kenny Florian

Florian, as I mention in today’s article for Spike MMA & Sports (coming later today), is one of those fighters who has plenty of reasons not to get punched in the face for a living. He’s a smart guy, a coach, and has found quite a bit of success in the broadcast booth, which is where he’ll likely stay.

A nine year career and being the only fighter to win in four different weight classes in the UFC is nothing to sniff at. In my mind, he’s the best fighter to never win a championship. It’s a dubious distinction that I’m sure people will scoff at, but considering who was in his way (GSP at Welterweight, BJ Penn at Lightweight, Jose Aldo at Featherweight), there’s absolutely no shame in it.

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Also, today is the day Floyd Mayweather starts his 87 day jail sentence for domestic abuse. He’ll likely be out at the end of August, pending good behavior.

Mayweather maintains his innocence, but his personal history doesn’t make anyone doubt the veracity of the charges and he didn’t exactly put up a fight in court.

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And earlier this week, WWE announced that Randy Orton was suspended for sixty days effective immediately due to his second Wellness Policy violation. They specifically cited a drug test failure. The first time it was marijuana metabolites, so speculation is that it’s likely the same this time. It’s unlikely to be steroids, particularly since if anything Orton’s been noticeably smaller the last couple years. Certainly possible, mind you. Just not likely.

Unlike legitimate sports, the WWE performs its own drug testing. While guys have been suspended in the past for weed, I’m skeptical that they automatically suspend a guy every time he pops a positive for it, since it’s really not a problem unless the guy shows up high and in no condition to perform (i.e. Jeff Hardy some time ago at that TNA pay-per-view).

This couldn’t come at a worse time for him. He was on the verge of being given another major push in the company. And just recently, he was replaced by The Miz as the star of the next installment of WWE films’ “The Marine” franchise due to the military’s refusal to cooperate with the project; Orton had been given a bad conduct discharge from the Marine Corps and served thirty-eight days in a military jail for going AWOL.

His troubled past and propensity for self-destruction is a regular obstacle for the WWE to overcome, which is why he’s been pushed near the top but never been given the ball to run with. And he likely never will. Even if he does stay on the straight and narrow the next two to three years, he’ll never be given the level of exposure that John Cena has because of the dirt that would eventually be dug up.

As for last weekend, the UFC on Fox and Mayweather/Cotto both competed with my show at Comic Syndrome in downtown Albany. Needless to say, both beat me out in terms of attendance and, likely, entertainment value.

On Fox, Nate Diaz beat Jim Miller by submission in Round 2 and Johny Hendricks beat Josh Koscheck by Split Decision. Both were given title shots as a result of their victories, and both will actually sit out and wait rather than take fights in the interim.

Diaz will face the winner of the rematch between Ben Henderson and Frankie Edgar for the UFC Lightweight Title. That rematch was supposed to occur in August, but has been pushed back to an as-yet-undetermined date in the Fall. That means Diaz will likely sit out until January 2013 at the very earliest.

Hendricks will face the winner of the unification bout between Interim UFC Welterweight champion Carlos Condit and UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre, who was sidelined last Fall by a torn ACL in his right knee. Nasty stuff. His earliest date of return would probably be October or November and so, like Diaz, Hendricks likely won’t see action until early 2013.

I don’t know if it’s necessarily good for a fighter to sit on the shelf for nine months or more waiting for a title shot. By that I mean I’m legitimately ignorant of the pros and cons. It certainly will decrease the likelihood of a guy being knocked out of contention by a loss and/or an injury, but what of the motivational factors? Do bad habits develop as a result of a long lay-off? How does one go about pacing himself while avoiding the pitfalls of overtraining? Legit questions that I’m sure someone with more inside knowledge of the fight game could give me, and I suspect would be something along the lines of “depends on the camp or the fighter.”

The only other noteworthy item from the UFC on Fox would be that it was Ricardo Almeida‘s first time as a judge at a UFC event, and he’s the one that scored the fight for Josh Koscheck. Considering how much people hold judges’ feet to the fire for decisions they don’t agree with, it’s sort of amusing to see those same critics and commentators providing excuses for Almeida. Personally, I don’t think it was nearly close enough to say that criticizing Almeida’s scorecard is without merit. I just think it goes to show that judging is and will continue to be a problem so long as the ten point must system and other criteria remain untouched and unexamined. It doesn’t matter whether or not the judge is a former fighter. It’s always going to be subjective, and the best you can do in boxing or MMA is to try to identify and fill the holes that so many judges keep falling into.

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Meanwhile, on pay-per-view, Floyd Mayweather beat Miguel Cotto by Unanimous Decision. It’s the result I expected, though from reports I’ve read Cotto put up a much better fight than anyone anticipated. I don’t like Mayweather as a human being – I suspect few do outside of 50 Cent and Floyd’s immediate family (Floyd Sr. notwithstanding) – but you can’t deny the guy’s greatness.

This victory and Mayweather’s jail sentence starting in June has made the fight against Manny Pacquaio even less likely. Personally, I hold the same opinion I did two years ago, which is that if this fight ever happens it will be long after it matters anymore, when one or more likely both fighters are in the twilight of their careers and their respective promoters decide to make one last cash grab with “unfinished business” as the hook. Floyd earned the biggest guaranteed payday of his career fighting a guy that Pacquiao thoroughly walloped two years ago. The money they can make not standing across the ring from each other makes them averse to the risk of a showdown. With no overseeing entity to force the issue, there’s nothing in it for either fighter.

In other news, fucking Justin Bieber was part of Mayweather’s entourage for some reason.

It’s certainly saying something when you have Lil’ Wayne in a picture and he’s not the one that looks awkward and out of place. Gary Andrew Poole over at Esquire thinks it was a play for likability. I’m not so sure. If Mayweather ever gave a shit about being liked as a human being, he’d have done something to indicate it before Bieber showed up. Perhaps the kid flashed those chubby cheeks and big dimples and melted Mayweather’s heart? That or Mayweather’s almost as big of a starfucker as the people around him. I think that’s the more likely scenario. Mayweather doesn’t care if you like him, he just wants to make sure you’re talking about him. Which, well, we are.

I will say, though, that I dig Bieber’s attempt at a Morrissey haircut. Big ups to sadsackness.

For those who need a refresher:

Say what you want about Floyd being overly emotional or overreacting, but as a member of the media, it’s on Merchant to retain and maintain the higher ground. His actions and comments were not only uncalled for, they were unprofessional and unbecoming of a broadcast journalist. There’s no excuse for them and there’s been nothing I’ve seen that indicates he regrets or even understands the breach that occurred that evening.

Dana White, the head of the UFC and a former boxing manager himself, expressed his outrage over not only the hypothetical threat Merchant made towards Mayweather, but the line of questioning:

(starting at the 7:00 mark)

“And then Larry Merchant…this guy always jumps in there and always saying bad stuff about people. And he’s attacking Floyd about the punch! Well how about the headbutt? If you want to ask Floyd a question right off the bat, ask him about the headbutt. This guy always—it’s my big beef with, uh–with Merchant for years. These guys get done fighting and he jumps in the ring and just starts saying off the wall, weird, rude shit to these guys. Who the Hell would want to do an interview with him? Probably the thing they dread worse than training, cutting weight, and everything, is their interview with Larry Merchant. It’s ridiculous.”

…

“I actually thought that that was very embarrassing for HBO. That guy is senile, he’s out of his mind, you know—he’s up there berating Floyd, you know. Floyd can’t say anything back to you? You’ve been disrespecting guys your whole career, and guess what? You can go back sixty years. You’re not kicking Floyd’s ass, okay? And what’s Floyd gonna do? A 102-year-old guy just said that to him, you know? And I’m the first one to go out and smash Floyd. Because I think Floyd should take this fight [against Manny Pacquaio]. Manny Pacquaio’s never tested positive for anything, okay? You’re not the Athletic Commission, Floyd. Who are you to be demanding all this other stuff, right? But I gotta be honest, I think Floyd handled himself very well that night, you know? It’s just so easy to hate him that everybody wants to blame Floyd.”

Larry Merchant, naturally, fired back in an interview with Boxing Scene’s Chris Robinson with statements dripping with sarcasm that insulted not only White, the sport of MMA as a whole, and, in turn, its fans:

“Let’s see, anyone who can make a multi-million dollar business out of street fighting has to be respected. My opinion is that anyone is allowed to put up a tent, put on a show and invite people to come. And obviously he’s had a lot of success. Good for him.”

“I don’t watch it. I don’t get a so-called sport in which you can have a 6-2 record and be called a world champion. I just don’t appreciate the finer points of MMA.”

Shockingly, Robinson says that he’s “surprised” that Merchant appears “unfazed” by the criticism. To which I can only say that if Robinson thinks getting overly defensive and insulting in response to a statement is “unfazed,” I’d hate to see what he thinks Merchant would have done if he were actually fazed by the remarks. Maybe threaten to kick White’s ass if he were thirty or forty years younger?

Look, I’m gonna take the Dana approach here and note that I’m the first to criticize him when it’s due, and I will in this instance as well: I actually don’t think that Floyd was totally in the right with how he conducted himself after the fight, but more importantly White’s comments about Merchants age are unnecessary and wholly uncalled for.

That said, Merchant was still wrong to do what he did and if it were anybody else, he would have been fired for it. Merchant does have a bad rep in circles for his post-fight line of questioning, which is a touchy subject because it asks broadcasters and reporters to traverse that precarious high-wire that separates being respectful and doing your job. Still, though, the line is there, and as a professional Merchant didn’t just wobble, he jumped off it with a smile on his face.

As for his comments about MMA? Firstly, I’ve always respected boxing and through personal exposure and training, I’m growing to love it for its finer points and especially the integrity of so many I know in the business. You won’t mean nicer guys than the Miller Brothers, for instance, who run NY Boxing in nearby Cohoes, NY. That said, nobody in the boxing industry is in any position to favorably compare all the ridiculously padded records in boxing with those of any other sport, whether it be team or combat. Brock Lesnar, to whom Merchant is referring, became champion by beating the undeniably best heavyweights in the world, until he ran into another guy who got his shot and proved he was better. Of course there are fighters who have padded records in MMA, but they’re constantly scrutinized and quickly exposed once they reach a higher level. The quality of a fighter’s record, whether it be MMA or boxing, does not lie simply in quantity.

I’m sure Merchant knows this already. He’s just “unfazed” by it.