BoxRec

Dan Rafael: ESPN

Mayweather disrespected Marquez, boxing
Thursday, September 24, 2009

Floyd Mayweather Jr. didn't take nearly enough grief for not making weight for Saturday's fight with Juan Manuel Marquez. Missing weight happens from time to time for fighters. It's never good, but, alas, it happens.

However, what really ticks me off is the way this one went down. I truly believe Mayweather, who was 146 pounds, never had any intention of making the contract weight of 144. Ever. Not from the day the deal was done in late April until the time he stepped on the scale Friday.

He treated Marquez like a chump and got away with it by paying him a few extra bucks. But, really, what is $600,000 when Mayweather stands to earn eight figures even after paying Marquez and paying off more than $5 million in IRS debts, especially when all indications are that the pay-per-view is going through the roof and likely will crack 1 million buys? Mayweather also disregarded the Nevada State Athletic Commission's request for a bout contract (which lists the weight) to be filed in a timely fashion. Instead he waited until just minutes before the weigh-in.

Why do you think the contract weight was kept such a secret for the entire promotion, even though I did my own digging and got the contract weight correct from day one? Because Mayweather never intended to make it. Still, nobody from the promotion would speak about what the weight was on the record until Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer, with his back to the wall, had no choice but to address it after the weigh-in debacle.

The whole weight thing was fishy from the outset, and then the weight was suddenly changed from 144 to 147 at the last minute to accommodate Mayweather. Golden Boy, Marquez's promoter, did its fighter a disservice by not protecting him in any way all in the name of not upsetting Mayweather, the prima donna. Better not upset the star because he stands to make Golden Boy a lot more money than Marquez on future fights. Even though Golden Boy doesn't have an official promotional contract with Mayweather, it does have a relationship with him going forward.

HBO was also complicit in weight-gate, simply looking the other way and never insisting that a basic fact of the promotion it supported to the hilt be announced to the public, especially when the media asked for it time and again. I've covered boxing for close to a decade. I don't remember a single fight in which the weight was kept a secret despite repeated requests.

Now, did two pounds make the difference between Mayweather winning and losing? Probably not. But that still doesn't make it right for him to run roughshod over everyone, and it sure wasn't right for everyone around him to facilitate the fraud. Mayweather should have been a professional about it and made the weight.

It was one thing for Mayweather to select Marquez, the lightweight champion and a much smaller man, as his comeback opponent. But for Mayweather to give himself an even greater advantage against a man who weighed 142 pounds, seven more than he had ever weighed for a fight in his life, showed no class.

If Mayweather wonders why he hasn't gotten more credit for his lopsided victory over Marquez, he need only look in the mirror.

Phenomenal-Nutrition wrote:I don't think it was a big conspiracy,

Terry D wrote:Agree with the article but there is nothing that can be done. Marquez was hardly likely to pull out of the fight and Floyd could have explained away check weigh ins by assuring us that he would be on the weight when he stepped onto the scales.

Marquez could complain but any complaints would be similar to Thierry Henry constantly threatening to leave the pitch if he hears racists chants/whistles but failing to do so. No one expects Marquez to do anything, he won't and Floyd can pull this again, and again. If a fight is made with Pac at catchweight then Floyd will come in over, people will threaten to pull Pac out of the fight, he'll get paid off and the fight will go ahead.

Boxing is not a particularly fair sport, it never has been.

TerribleTerry wrote:Dan Raphael raising issues over someone else's weight?!? Now there is an irony.

Terry D wrote:

jamesmcdonnell wrote:

Terry D wrote:Agree with the article but there is nothing that can be done. Marquez was hardly likely to pull out of the fight and Floyd could have explained away check weigh ins by assuring us that he would be on the weight when he stepped onto the scales.

Marquez could complain but any complaints would be similar to Thierry Henry constantly threatening to leave the pitch if he hears racists chants/whistles but failing to do so. No one expects Marquez to do anything, he won't and Floyd can pull this again, and again. If a fight is made with Pac at catchweight then Floyd will come in over, people will threaten to pull Pac out of the fight, he'll get paid off and the fight will go ahead.

Boxing is not a particularly fair sport, it never has been.

I believe that Pacman has enough of a contingency to pull out of the fight if Mayweather comes in over the weight.

Pacman is a big draw in his own right, and I don't believe he needs floyd badly enough to allow him to get away with that kind of thing.

It's a moot point however, as Cotto is going to batter him before he gets anywhere near floyd.

They'd probably threaten to withdraw, get some money to sweeten things up and then use it as an excuse should they lose.

TerribleTerry wrote:Dan Raphael raising issues over someone else's weight?!? Now there is an irony.

Bomber 1 wrote:

TerribleTerry wrote:Dan Raphael raising issues over someone else's weight?!? Now there is an irony.

;;-)

The fight was made at Welter and Mayweather was the attraction, Marquez got his payday to date and a little more with the weight issue!! Im sure if you ask Marquez he'll tell you he was happy Mayweather weighed in heavier.. Mayweather also claims he ran on the treadmill for half an hour before he left his house and on his scales he was on the limit of what he had to be?? There's more to this than meets the eye I feel and I also feel Dan Rafael is DLH nuts!! 3 ponds bears no significance over the outcome of the fight at all!!!

ALI wrote: I think he's dead right, Mayweather was let off far to easily over this issue. Its sad to see that a fighter of Marquez's stature can be treated with such disregard, and not only by Mayweather, but also by his own promoters who should have been protecting his interests from the get go and not Money Mayweathers.

Mayweather has blinding skills, he's an amazing talent, but he's starting to rile me more than Calzaghe ever did, and that’s saying something. Not only does he dodge the big fights people 'really' want to see him in, he's cherry picking his opponents and handicapping them to the hilt. Its a fcuking joke, and yet so many morons are falling over each other in a rush to get him back into the P4P#1 spot.

The guy needs brought down several pegs, but with the challenges he's been taking over the last several years, it does not look likely to happen in the ring.