IBO Boxing Honesty and Integrity
http://gty. im/457794754
By Scoop Malinowski
It has become apparent that Floyd Mayweather is threatened on some level by UFC kingpin Conor McGregor. We have learned over the years that when Mayweather and his camp attack or insult another fighter it’s because they are trying to diminish, discredit and denigrate that fighter. Today it is strangely curious that Mayweather would be so adamant about trying to verbally put down McGregor but that’s just what he and his team are doing (see Floyd’s recent attack interview on McGregor at Fighthype. com). Look back at Mayweather’s career. Most opponents were treated like sparring or business partners and because they showed no threat, they caused Mayweather no discomfort or stress. The certain fighters who did extremely bother and stress Mayweather were unbeaten Miguel Cotto when he was promoted by Bob Arum, Antonio Margarito when he was WBO Champion and promoted by Bob Arum, Manny Pacquiao at his peak prime. If you remember, Mayweather and his team spent a lot of time and energy trying to diminish and discredit those fighters with media smear campaigns, lies, and insults, obviously because Floyd did not want to have to fight them. Right now it’s McGregor who is being attacked by Mayweather and company and it’s mysterious why Mayweather is showing such insecurity, anger and verbal aggression towards the Irish superhero. McGregor has never had a professional boxing match and should be little problem for Floyd if they were to fight under pro boxing rules. Also, McGregor is bound to the dictates of the UFC and he can’t box Floyd unless the UFC is part of the promotion of the event. Another hurdle to making Mayweather vs McGregor reality is that McGregor has stated his price tag for doing the fight is $100,000,000 which will be hard to satisfy knowing Mayweather’s penchant to always earn the lion’s share of the profits. So there are many obstacles which make this fascinating clash of fistic titans a long shot. But still it is puzzling that Mayweather and Leonard Ellerbe are constantly trying to destroy and devalue the McGregor brand with their mean-spirited media attacks. I have a few theories about this. McGregor is a larger than life superstar who has overtaken Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao as the new “Face” of fight sports. McGregor’s recent New York City UFC win generated over a million pay per view buys, considerably greater than Mayweather’s last PPV fight vs Andre Berto or Manny Pacquiao’s recent PPV win vs Vargas. For the project, heck will take a playstation 3, xbox 360 and wii-u and put them into one case, not just saving space but also creating a work of art in the process. In a business world of “what have you done for me lately”, McGregor is the fresh, new electrifying superstar and Mayweather is old, stale news. McGregor is the new pay per view king. We all know Mayweather wants to fight again and achieve his 50th win and many others in the boxing industry have hinted the Mayweather “comeback” is imminent. But the Mayweather brand is now faltering badly and there is little public demand to see Floyd fight again unless it’s against Gennady Golovkin or a rematch with Manny Pacquiao. Another way that McGregor outshines Mayweather is by his charismatic personality. McGregor is a fascinating, magnetizing character who has an electric charisma and spontaneous wit, not to mention an awe-inspiring colorful confidence level comparable to Muhammad Ali. While Mayweather is and always has been a boring personality who never says anything interesting. Mayweather’s dull act is just a bunch of pre-scripted, one-liners that look and sound empty, hollow and fake next to McGregor’s genuine passion, ferocity and razzle-dazzle. If these two contrasting personalities were to clash and fight in 2017 it would be incredible theater. And right now boxing is a struggling sport which needs to piggyback off of the surging UFC. Surely Mayweather would be the heavy favorite to win however the most interesting part of the fight would be how he would hold up under McGregor’s verbal beatdowns and insults. We have seen Mayweather completely fall apart in certain situations when his protectors could not control the situation. Remember, when Floyd nearly soiled his pants when Margarito confronted him at the De La Hoya vs Mayorga press conference? Remember when Floyd lost his mind and his cool when he was flustered by Brian Kenny on ESPN and those two radio show hosts? Remember Floyd’s crying nervous breakdown at the press conference after the Carlos Baldomir fight?
Just imagine how Floyd could fall apart mentally under a verbal onslaught from McGregor, who absolutely has the verbal genius to insult and ridicule Mayweather far, far beyond what Muhammad Ali did to Joe Frazier. Believe me, Mayweather can plainly see what a verbal tornado McGregor is and the last thing in the world he wants to do is try to match wits against such a relentless force. McGregor may not win the physical fight but there is no doubt he would slaughter Floyd in the pre-fight hype war of words. But then again, who knows? Maybe McGregor can destroy Floyd to such a degree in the mental fight that it could alter the expected outcome of the physical fight. It’s just alarming how much insecurity, frustration and even fear Floyd is showing towards McGregor right now. And it’s just very interesting to see so much smoke is still in the air about a potential Mayweather vs. McGregor, especially the comments recently publicized by Mayweather at Fighthype, Ellerbe and even Paul Malignaggi, who is a known Mayweather media protection agent. And you know when there is a lot of smoke, there usually is a fire. The time could very well be right to produce the first cross boxing and mixed martial arts superfight. It’s entirely or at least remotely possible that Mayweather vs McGregor could be in the works behind the scenes. The more Mayweather keeps chattering about McGregor, the more you have to wonder.
