It’s all fun and games until you accuse someone of steroids. Or other performance enhancing drugs, for that matter.
That is the saying, right?
No? Well, it should be.
You see, when promoting a fight, fighters can call each other names, get in each other’s face, push one another, and even throw an occasional punch without crossing the line. All of that is well and good. Pre-fight hype will translate into ticket sales, PPV purchases, and increase total viewership. It’s become an accepted norm in the theater that is boxing.
But on Monday in Montreal, Jean Pascal crossed the line when he repeatedly accused Bernard Hopkins of being a “cheater.”
“Take the test. Are you willing to take the test?” Pascal shouted into the podium microphone. “Take the test to the show the world.”
At that point, Hopkins and Golden Boy CEO Richard Schaefer attempted to excuse themselves from the press conference. Pascal went to put his arm around Hopkins as if they were ‘buddy-buddy’ while he was still screaming into the microphone.
Hopkins pushed him, Pascal threw one punch back, and the two were separated. Since it was the Montreal press conference and Pascal had the microphone, it was only fitting that he got the last word in. Unfortunately, he chose to repeat “You’re a cheater!” over and over again.
Pascal was channeling his inner Floyd Mayweather, making similar accusations toward Hopkins that Mayweather did towards Manny Pacquiao. Those accusations have led to a defamation lawsuit.
Fighter’s should keep their mouths shut with regards to trying to tarnish another fighter’s reputation unless they have substantial evidence to back their thesis. Mayweather doesn’t. Pascal doesn’t. End of story. If this trend continues, boxing is going to have to deal with their own version of the Salem Witch Trials.
But when Mayweather or Pascal make those accusations, they simultaneously pay their rivals a generous compliment, as Hopkins’ longtime trainer Naazim Richardson pointed out at yesterday’s New York press conference.
“Sometimes you don’t realize when you say something derogatory…you don’t realize you give the man the greatest complement in the world,” Richardson explained. “See if you were to say, ‘Naazim, you looked a certain kind of way and the way you beat that man…I would have thought you had a bat.’ That’s a compliment to me when I come out and know that I didn’t have a bat.”
He continued, “Because I looked at you, and you didn’t look like you had a bat in that last fight you had. I wasn’t that impressed with you to think that you did something illegal or something wrong.”
After Richardson spoke, Pascal’s trainer, Marc Ramsay, took to the mic to say a few words about the May 21 rematch. And after Ramsay, it was time for Hopkins to take the mic. It was time for Hopkins to fire back.
And that he did.
“When a guy like this [points to Pascal] says I’m eating some kind of candy bar or…I am doing something unusual because I showed what I have been showing for years — and he [Pascal] wasn’t even in boxing, he was in pampers when I was doing this — and now it becomes a shock, it’s unusual, it’s strange,” a visibly angry Hopkins said.
“He put allegations out there that I don’t want to deal with, but I think I’ll speak about it now. Don’t be surprised if he DIES in May,” Hopkins shouted into the microphone. “That’s how I feel. And I’m taking this anger — I mean that — this is no quote, this is no fucking press conference to hype it up. Don’t be surprised if I kill him.”
To say Hopkins was pissed would be an understatement. But he had every right to be furious. Tossing around allegations of performance enhancing drugs is a dangerous and out of line, unless there is proof, of course. And in this case, or the case of Pacquiao, there is no proof whatsoever.
While Floyd Mayweather may be a great example to follow inside the ring, his actions outside the ropes are anything but role model material. So Pascal should change course and stop accusing other athletes of “cheating.” He should quit all that nonsense while he still can.
But, then again, it already may be too late. The damage may have already been done. Like Hopkins said, “Don’t be surprised if I kill him.”
Kyle Kinder can be reached on Twitter at Twitter.com/KyleKinder or KyleKinder1@gmail.com