By Norm Frauenheim-
Floyd Mayweather Jr. is as good at staying in the news as he was at staying a top the pound-for debate.
Evidence of that played out all over again throughout this week with speculation that he might make another comeback, this time in mixed martial arts. As usual there were a lot of mixed messages about whether he will or won’t, could or should. Who knows? If last August’s bizarre boxing bout with UFC star Conor McGregor is any guide, it’s safe to say he probably will.
Whether it would be safe to his health is another issue altogether. Remember, he once talked about retiring before a punch – or perhaps a kick to the temple – left him hurt and without the capacity to enjoy all of the unprecedented money he has collected. I’m not sure he really wants to fight again. Against McGregor, he didn’t look to be in the best condition, although he appeared to carry the novice boxer for several rounds before ending it with a TKO in the tenth round.
The guess from this corner is that people are telling Mayweather to stay away from the ring, or the cage, or any other version of harm’s way. Trouble is, he can’t resist the media, a siren’s song that reminds him and everybody else that he is as relevant and rich as ever.
It stokes his ego.
It re-fills his garage and bank accounts.
And it works.
The best and most recent example was the McGregor match. After months of stoking media speculation and criticism, interest was high enough to attract a reported 4.4 million pay-per-view audience in the U.S. That was just short of the record 4.6 million he posted for his decision over Manny Pacquiao. I can’t help but think that Mayweather-Pacquiao II will happen one day in a cage. But that’s another story for another day.
This is about Mayweather and his uncanny ability at manipulating the media. He does at as well as he eluded a punch. A hint here, a shoulder roll there and, before long, what looked like a feint suddenly becomes real. It creates a momentum all its own and inevitably sweeps Mayweather, now 41, back into the dangerous place he vowed to avoid about five years ago. Maybe, Mayweather can duck and dodge strikes, kicks, elbows and knee caps. Maybe, he can command enough money and clout to amend rules in such a way that only a cosmetic cage will make his UFC debut look like the real thing. But, maybe he’s made a Faustian bargain that ends in a disabling blow.
It’s no coincidence perhaps that media attention on combat sports is at a place similar in April to what it was last August. Then, the media focus was on Mayweather-McGregor just three weeks before opening bell to the Gennady Golovkin-Canelo Alvarez draw. Eight months later, circumstances have changed. Boxing has only itself to blame this time. But the names and attention are the same. GGG promoters were scrambling this week to find an opponent for May 5 after Canelo’s withdrawal in the wake of a positive PED test. A news conference was held Thursday. It was announced that there was no announcement.
About three weeks before what would be opening bell, we’re back to where we were in August: Talking about Mayweather. Yeah, there’s McGregor, too. But after the Irishman allegedly caused a near riot at Brooklyn’s Barclay’s Center at UFC media event last week, there were questions about his future.
Video shows him attacking a bus. He was released on $50,000 bond. According to witnesses, he and his crew stormed the backstage, broke a window and injured fellow UFC fighters. He was arraigned on one count of felony criminal mischief and three counts of misdemeanor assault. He was allowed to return Ireland, but has been ordered to appear in court in New York on June 14.
If convicted, he might be spending more than just few a rounds in a cage.
