This post is an attempt to give an objective account of Floyd Mayweather form a fans perspective because i'm a little fed up with all the "Floyd is the best........" and then "Floyd is a jerk......" remarks that are getting boring in there predictablilty. It seems that people are not willing to see Floyd in a proper perspective, its i people loathe him and he is the worst thing ever to hit a boxing ring or they slavishly love him and can't see any negatives and jump down the necks of anyone who dares make a critical comment. I am writing this post, as a fan of Floyd Mayweather to say that not all of his supporters are blind to his faults, but neither are we prepared to accept that he is the worst human being to walk the earth, surely there is a middle ground to be had, where people have the intelligence not to swallow all of the hype, but also acknowledge that maybe some of the criticisms are not totally warrented and to a degree slightly overboard.
Floyd Mayweather brings excitement to the sport even if some of his fights are not exciting in the respect of say a fight like the Khan - Maidana where to guys slug it out for dominence. Mayweather appeals to boxing fans who appreciate the finer points of the arts of the ring and his talents are unquestionable, only his way of gaining victory is debatable in that some fights like to see a tear up and others can appreciate more subtle approaches. Mayweather is a complex but charismatic character who people are drawn to for his boxing ability, his personality, his brashness, his confidence, his lifestyle and maybe in their hearts they would like a slice of his attitude, some of his money and can appreciate where he is and where he came from in life. On the other hand his detracters and a lot of his fans would acknowledge the more grostesque aspects of his personality, his some time aggressive nature, his disrespectfulness, his childishness, his selfishness, his own sense of self importence, the utter garbage he can come out with, his nauseating self promotion and the sheer contradictions he can come out with at times.
However, very seldom it is talked about what Floyd does for people in his community or the lifestyle that he gives to his family and some would say that they are not bothered about those aspects of Floyd's life and that all they want to hear about is the time he spends in the ring and all aspects to do with that, which is understandable. But to not talk about Floyd the fighter outside of the ring means not giving a sufficiant hearing to those aspects of his life that would possibly go some way to neutralising the opinions that people have of Floyd Mayweather the fighting man. It has to be remembered or acknowledged that Floyd the fighter is a character that has been built up over the years and has been a succesful tool in selling Floyd to the public and making him a lot of money, the "money" character has become a brand in which he can invest and hide behind and it's something that has been succesful, so he will continue to use it. Iam not saying that some of those "money" traits don't find there way into Floyd's private life, because they will do, but a lot of it is staged managed for effect and it works in themes and techniques that are used to sell fights today, such as face off's and 24/7.
I personally think that Floyd Mayweather inspires more people than he is given credit for and i think the intelligent people on this foruma and in the boxing world can seperate the bullshit from the reality and can give credit where credit is due and give criticism where criticism is due without willfully taking sides in this relentless yet predictable debate on Floyd and what sort of a person and boxer he is or isn't. In defence of those people who choose to see Floyd in a negative light, i feel that he purposely takes on the persona of the villain and revels in it, because it matches up with the "money" character, but deep down he cares about his legacy, he wants respect for his achievemenets, he ultimately wants people to see the good in him, but maybe has to settle for the fact that the price he pays for his fame, money and notoriety is the fact that his character, the "money" character can never slip in public, meaning that any good sides to his character will go unseen and unwritten about.
Quix
