IBO Boxing Honesty and Integrity
Boxing history is filled with suspicions and accusations of fraud boxers who were protected and choreographed by corrupt forces, motivated of course by money or more specifically, greed. Examples of accused fraud champions? Primo Carnera is probably the one with the most suspicion. Years ago I concluded that Floyd Mayweather’s career at junior welterweight and welterweight could well be a choreographed hoax. And there is a trail of evidences and clues which support the conspiracy theory. “All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream. ” – Edgar Allan Poe
“When money speaks the truth stays silent. ” – Russian proverb
Alarm bells first rang in 2004 when Floyd Mayweather ducked a world title opportunity to face WBA champion Vivian Harris. Mayweather was the mandatory, and like Miguel Cotto and Kostya Tszyu, who also were mandatory challengers for Harris, Mayweather declined and instead chose to fight a patsy named Henry Bruseles. Harris unleashed on Mayweather’s ducking in a 2004 interview we did by phone. Vivian Harris: “There’s a lot of mismatching going on in my division. They’re not fighting nobody. They get nice knockouts on TV, you see Floyd talkin about, Oh, look what Bernard Hopkins did, I’m knockin my opponents out, (Hopkins) is going the distance. Look at who Floyd fought – nobody to go the distance with. Who did Bernard Hopkins just fight – somebody (tough) to go the distance with. Not somebody (patsy) that just came there not to fight. That’s what I’m talkin about. It’s easy. You can just look and see. But the media don’t want to look and see. And talk about these things. But they don’t talk. Vivian Harris is gonna talk. Because the world needs to know the truth. Boxing is not like back in the days, man. I don’t even watch a fight like that no more. I’d rather watch back in the days fights than watching today’s fights. Because it’s bullshit. Unless it’s the middleweight division or 154. But these guys won’t fight each other. Look. Shane Mosley didn’t have to fight Winky Wright. He didn’t have to fight Vernon Forrest. But these guys want to prove that they’re the best out there. That’s why they do it.
Floyd don’t want to prove nothing. He just want to stay undefeated with that zero and act like he pound-for-pound. When the media don’t give him pound-for-pound, he want to argue with the media and ask the media, What did Floyd and what did Roy Jones do? Roy Jones didn’t have to fight Tarver. He could have stayed at heavyweight and he could have made money at heavyweight. He didn’t do that. So Floyd’s not talkin nice. So, like I said, I’m just upset I wasn’t (at the Floyd press conference yesterday). Because I was gonna shut his mouth…[Vivian begins talking into the mic as if directly to Floyd]… Cause you’re talkin a lot of shit. Feel me? And that’s why you don’t have no fans. You talk that nobody knows me, yeah, people know you, but they don’t even like you. Look at that. You can’t even fill up an arena. Look at you, man. Because you’re not fighting nobody. All you’re looking for is money fights. Okay, we respect that as a business. But you have to fight the best fighters out there. ”
Mayweather’s proclivity to fight second raters continued at welterweight. Antonio Margarito was the WBO champion and had his sights set on getting his fists on Mayweather. His promoter Bob Arum was on board to make the fight in 2006 but Mayweather turned down Arum’s repeated offers. Margarito was a monster back then in 2006, beating up De La Hoya in sparring, tearing opponent’s ears off with punches (Sebastian Lujan) and just destroying every man put in his path. Clearly, Margarito had the physicality and toughness to give Mayweather hell. And Mayweather well knew it. When Margarito confronted Floyd at a Vegas press conference, Floyd practically fell apart verbally during the ambush recorded by video. Floyd stuttered and stammered that they would fight in the future when it made more sense. Clearly nervous and frightened, Floyd deceptively shook Margarito’s hand signifying a handshake promise but of course, it was a lie. Mayweather eventually bought out of his Top Rank contract for six figures and opted to fight the less regarded 37 year old Carlos Baldomir in November 2006 for the same amount of money Arum had promised, not counting the buy out sum which was reported to be $250,000. Why Mayweather ducked Margarito for $8 million in May or June of 2006 was probably a career-saving decision but it exposed the truth that Mayweather was a protected, risk-avoiding, handpicking businessman first. The next blatant duck was Miguel Cotto. The then unbeaten Puerto Rican was also promoted by Top Rank and held a world welter title. Mayweather vs Cotto for 147 unification would have been a superfight of the decade battle of welterweight unbeatens in 2008. But Mayweather refused to fight Cotto, citing Cotto’s pay per view numbers and a distaste to do business with Bob Arum as his chief excuses. But those excuses were not logical. Cotto was a superstar in New York, able to repeatedly sell out Madison Square Garden regardless of who the opponent was. Floyd vs Cotto could have filled Yankee Stadium but Mayweather would not budge. Clearly he saw something dangerous in Cotto, something he did not like. Though Mayweather would later fight Cotto after Cotto had lost to Margarito and his career and leverage as an A side star was fading. And it’s important to note that Cotto was no longer associated with Arum, which suggests that he could be manipulated to take the substantial payday to play the patsy for Mayweather and his protector(s). Around this time, facts about Mayweather’s advisor Al Haymon began to creep into public notice. Haymon was a secretive, private former mogul in the music industry who set his designs on taking over boxing. Armed with a fortune, Haymon was well aware that the only way to attain and hold any real power in boxing was to control the biggest star in the sport. It would not be a mistake to surmise that Haymon chose the talented Mayweather to be his star vehicle. Haymon knew the best route to long term success was that he had to keep his top star unbeaten in order to increase his power and leverage in the sport. A KO loss to Cotto or Margarito would have ended everything for Floyd and Haymon.
“Absolute power corrupts absolutely. ” – Lord Acton
Years later after Haymon and Mayweather had established their foothold, Paulie Malignaggi revealed the level of greed and ambition of Haymon during an interview with Fighthype. com. Annoyed by Haymon’s fighter Adrien Broner’s disrespectful behavior, Malignaggi unleashed a scorching barrage of words at the man responsible for putting a thug like Broner in the public spotlight. “Al Haymon can manipulate anything. What Al Haymon wants Al Haymon gets. “
Without question, the angry Malignaggi was hinting that Haymon was not above fixing or manipulating anything in boxing to serve his agenda which was to “run the sport” as one former HBO executive stated in a New York Times feature about Haymon written by Greg Bishop. Around this time, another welterweight had emerged as a top threat to Mayweather, by the name of Paul Williams. A tall, athletic, southpaw capable of throwing non-stop punches for twelve rounds like Paul Williams would have been a stylistic nightmare for Mayweather. Controlled by Haymon, The Williams vs Mayweather fight curiously was never produced. The reason why was obvious to most astute ring observers. Williams stood four inches taller than Floyd, had a much longer reach, busier punch output and a tricky awkward defense. I asked the trainer and manager of Williams George Peterson, how Williams would fare against Mayweather in 2009? The response was short and curt and without even a hint of doubt. “Paul Williams would put Mayweather in the cemetery. ”
Williams was a very talented and effective fighter but he did not have the star power and lightning rod persona of Mayweather, so of course, Haymon gave him lower priority. Eventually Williams moved up to 154 and 160 and lost to bigger fighters and his career ended after a serious motorcycle crash which left him paralyzed the waist down. Also, sadly, Williams will not be properly remembered by history as a top welterweight champion because he was not allowed to fight Mayweather which surely would have exploded his star power to a different level. Haymon’s agenda and priority and star vehicle was Mayweather and it cost the deserving Williams immeasurable success and glory. But boxing is and always was a star-driven business more so than it is a sport. During these years of Mayweather’s ducking and protection by Haymon, Mayweather was challenged on TV and radio about it several times, most notably by Brian Kenny on ESPN’s Friday Night Fights. There were also other radio interviews which also went viral on the internet because of how angry and annoyed Mayweather became when challenged about this ugly truth that he was a protected, ducking fighter. Floyd could not handle the truth because “truth always annihilates falsehood. ” And when a protected sports figure is lobbed softball questions for most of his career, there’s great difficulty and stress when suddenly he finds himself on the spot confronted with questions he knows he’s not capable of sufficiently answering. And then, as if sent by Divine power, came Manny Pacquiao in 2009. Just when it appeared that Mayweather and Haymon were home free to continue their “show”, suddenly a little Filipino marvel kept winning and winning in sensational fashion, destroying top notch fighters far more impressively than Mayweather was able to, most notably against Ricky Hatton and Oscar De La Hoya. Mayweather had successfully dodged Cotto, Margarito, Harris, Williams, but this time the pressure and public demand would be even greater. Good vs evil, humble vs arrogant, lefty vs righty, American vs Asian, offensive dynamo vs defensive stylist. This fight had everything, more selling angles than any fight in history. Conceivably, it could be bigger than Ali vs Frazier or Leonard vs Hagler or Tyson vs Holyfield. This was the Fight of the Century or of All Centuries. But Mayweather and Haymon refused it. And they kept on refusing it. And then they faked interest and faked negotiations and once again refused it. The world wondered, what the hell is going on? Mayweather was clearly afraid of Pacquiao who had blazing handspeed, knockout power and an ability to throw ten punch combinations. Opponents said Pacquiao was so fast, you could not see his punches. Allegedly, Mayweather and Haymon orchestrated a smear campaign accusing Pacquaio of using performance enhancing drugs, which they presented no evidence to prove (Pacquiao later sued for defamation of character and won an undisclosed settlement from Floyd). Mayweather used the PED excuse to duck the Pacquiao fight. And because that excuse was hollow and without any substantive evidence to back it, Mayweather and Haymon knew they needed other excuses. So they came up with more excuses. Floyd refused to do business with Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum. Pacquiao should avenge his losses first. Floyd was worried about losing his health and his “self preservation” and suffering permanent head injuries because of Pacquiao’s punches which could leave him walking “with a limp. ”
For months and then years the confused public wondered what was happening. The pressure on Mayweather from HBO and the powers that be must have been excruciatingly intense. There was so much money to be made by this fight, hundreds of millions of dollars in profits for a single fight. During this time, Mayweather did a strange interview on Fighthype where he was sitting in a car late at night talking with the interviewer in an apparently depressed mood. Obviously stressed by all the pressure to stop ducking and just fight Pacquiao, Mayweather moaned and groaned to the interviewer and made a most astounding revelation: “I don’t love boxing like I used to because boxing isn’t real anymore. “
Read that quote again. Yes, Floyd actually said it and it’s on video at Fighthype unless they’ve pulled the video. For Floyd to actually say “Boxing isn’t real anymore” is your smoking gun quote, fact, evidence which exposes the entire fraud. There is no excuse and no valid, acceptable explanation to defend Mayweather for saying that sentence. It sounded exactly like what it was: a confession that his career had been a colossal fix for the last five years. Mayweather was not in the state of mind physically or mentally to fight a raging inferno like the prime Pacquiao who had destroyed top fighters in obviously real fights for successive years. On the other hand, Mayweather looked like a controlled fighter winning boring sparring sessions, designed and choreographed by a power hungry advisor who wasn’t ready to sacrifice his gravy train just yet. The deal would not be made for 2010 or 2011. Eventually, Mayweather and Haymon left HBO and signed a six fight contract with Showtime for a reported $150 million. This move caused a further divide as Pacquiao was contracted to HBO. The six fight deal with Showtime was guaranteed so given the history of boxing it would make sense and there would be a motive to make sure Mayweather won all six of those fights so that he could extend another long term contract after the six fights was completed. While there is no confessions or clear evidence that any of those Mayweather fights were fixed, there were some curious clues that maybe they were. Or some of them were. Marcos Maidana, was an Argentine puncher who didn’t speak English and lacked the star power of Mayweather. Would Haymon risk Mayweather losing to Maidana and blow a potential future $100 million payday to Pacquiao? Of course not. Maidana said something strange to reporters at one of the New York press conferences. Maidana admitted he had little chance to beat Mayweather. And even if he knocked Mayweather out cold, “the referee would count in decimal points. ” Translation: I know that there is no way I can win the fight with Mayweather. And of course he lost two decisions to Mayweather in fairly action-packed fights. The public was growing bored with Mayweather’s Showtime fights and his refusal to fight Pacquiao and insider reports were that Showtime’s profits were dropping considerably with each Floyd fight. Mayweather still adamantly refused to fight Pacquiao, still citing health concerns and self preservation. As the Showtime profits diminished, Haymon and Mayweather had their backs against the wall. Who could they handpick who could bring in the big crowds – and revenues. The answer was Canelo Alvarez, a good-looking undefeated popular Mexican who was attracting huge crowds and TV ratings in Mexico. The fight with Mayweather was highly uneventful and filled with suspicious sidenotes. Oscar De La Hoya, the promoter of Alvarez, checked into drug rehab the week before the biggest fight of his promotional career. Julio Cesar Chavez, the greatest living Mexican fighter did not care to show up to watch the fight live. And Canelo’s curiously passionless performance lacked urgency and desperation. He fought exactly like a guy who was paid to lose to Mayweather. And then weeks after the fight a story emerged. I found the link by accident. It was on a Hollywood gossip site www. diaryofahollywoodstreetking. com. A transvestite lover of Al Haymon revealed in an interview that Haymon told him that he had paid Alvarez a $5 million bonus to box soft against Floyd. It was so unbelievable, it could not have been made up. And with the story was a photo of Haymon that was MY PHOTO of Haymon. I had taken the photo of Haymon in Atlantic City who was asked by a fan to take a photo of himself with Lou DiBella. The owner of the gossip site found my photo of Haymon on Google and used it without my permission. I contacted the site owner about the photo rights and he contacted me right back. I learned the details. The story was true. German airline lufthansa is also believed cell phone spy app to be on the verge of following suit. Haymon had become aware of the story on the site and threatened to sue over it. But the site owner knew his source was legit and refused to back down. The bizarre story is still posted at the site (Google Al Haymon sex tape to find it). So there you have it. Credible evidence that Haymon fixed a Mayweather fight in order to sustain his unbeaten record to sustain his earning power. Then the question begged to be asked? Just how many Mayweather fights were orchestrated to sustain Floyd’s unbeaten record and his earning power? Was this the reason why Floyd and Haymon refused to make the lucrative fights with Bob Arum vs Margarito, Cotto and Pacquiao?
Based on watching just about all of Mayweather’s fights since 2005 I would say yes, all of his fights looked suspect and like orchestrated sparring sessions designed to be won by Mayweather. Mayweather’s confidence and cockiness did not seem based on true greatness. There was always an insecurity and jealousy of Mayweather towards other great fighters who could steal his limelight and glory. Mayweather’s fake confidence and arrogance was like a mask, that just could not conceal his insecurity and jealousy. Emanuel Steward once said true great fighters don’t have to talk about how great or tough they are, they just are. Everybody knows it. Floyd always had an annoying insecurity and a need to tell everyone that he was the best and anyone who disagreed became an enemy. The ducking of Pacquiao was now into five years. Finally in early 2015, the pressure and demand grew even greater. Mayweather and Pacquiao even had a chance meeting at a Miami Heat basketball game. They met on the court and later at Mayweather’s home. But again, it was smoke and mirrors. Mayweather wouldn’t agree to the fight with a signed contract. Again, most fans and media didn’t know it was Mayweather again doing the ducking. Media manipulation and fake news campaigns do work. You know the old saying: Repeat the lie enough times and eventually the public accepts it as truth. Then suddenly a big move was made to force Floyd to finally face Pacquiao. The head of CBS Showtime, Les Moonves took charge. According to insider reports and conversations, Moonves allegedly ordered Haymon to deliver Mayweather to fight Pacquiao with an ultimatum. Whatever the secret truth behind the scenes was, the power play worked and suddenly the fight was signed. I actually broke the story about the signing after a New York sports marketing insider source informed me. I still remember where I was – it was ten o’clock at night and I was in Delray Beach covering the ATP tennis tournament there when I received the surprise instant message. Later the next day, the main boxing writers learned of the developments and it became somewhat official – Floyd vs Pacquiao was finally ON. It really wasn’t 100 percent official because Floyd and Haymon could not be trusted, but the public word was that Mayweather had signed and the fight was being scheduled for May 2. The first press conference in Los Angeles was weird because of Mayweather’s unusual soft spoken demeanor compared to how nasty and disrespectful he spoke about Pacquiao during the previous six years and especially in his home-made videos. The fight built up and captivated the world, as everyone expected. A few weeks before the fight, a Vegas betting expert revealed that the gambling syndicates needed Mayweather to win to profit, if Pacquiao won there would be huge losses on the houses. This was an interestingly direct revelation which was posted on a minor boxing site which I don’t even remember because a colleague sent it to me. But it was a single fact which could or would later explain a lot of things. The fight itself was not especially exciting. Pacquiao tried to force the action but Mayweather was content to box and run and defend and block and hold. Both were over age 35 and not quite as good as they were five years earlier. Mayweather ended up winning a decision but it looked like one of those, I know if I just box safe and take no chances the judges are on my side. Could the fix have been in? Anything is possible in boxing. After the fight we learned some surprising information. Pacquiao had a shoulder injury and requested to use a legal painkiller on the day of the fight but was blocked from doing so by the Nevada Commission, perhaps on orders from the Floyd Haymon camp. Remember one of Floyd’s quotes from years ago: “I run Vegas. ”
Also weeks after the fight, a prominent boxing journalist revealed that Mayweather was caught by surprise at his hotel room the day before the fight taking an illegal IV, which is a known cover up procedure to hide performance enhancing drugs in an athlete’s body. Both fighters supposedly earned over $250 million. The fight’s promoters and organizers probably earned even more. So everyone was happy. But was it a real fight? Was it an authentic competition? I would say there is a very reasonable chance there was not a level playing field and the producers designed and choreographed everything to favor Mayweather who could less afford to lose than the world beloved icon of class and humility, Manny Pacquiao. Now that the chapter of this era of the history books is coming to the end, it’s time to examine what we witnessed. We saw the undeniable, spectacular greatness of Manny Pacquiao as he devastated many great fighters with explosive knockouts in winning world titles in a record eight different weight divisions, a record that will probably never be broken or tied in the future. With Mayweather, we saw some fine boxing demonstrations over a sustained career. But we also saw a lot of ducking and dodging and protection from Al Haymon. We even heard Floyd call himself a coward in an interview with the press, “Yeah but I’m a rich coward. “
True great fighters don’t want or need protection. Only a controlled, fraud fighter does. Is it possible Floyd Mayweather was a very talented fighter that was actually quite flawed and needed and received a decade’s worth of protection by a very powerful, ambitious and greedy figure who shuns the spotlight while he wields his power and schemes his next moves?
As has been said: The truth is stranger than fiction. And Floyd Mayweather actually told us, “Boxing isn’t real anymore. ”
So I ask you all: What possible reason could there have been for Floyd to tell us that “boxing isn’t real anymore?” Other than it being a stark confession about the truth of his perfectly choreographed, multi-million dollar boxing career. – Scoop Malinowski
Additional notes: Another highly suspect moment was seeing Victor Ortiz laughing and smiling just moments after he had been knocked out by Mayweather who threw the two KO blows while Ortiz had his hands down after a head butt attempt seconds earlier. Also, I remember being at the New York City press conference to announce the fight and seeing Ortiz ask Floyd to take a photo together with his family on the stage AFTER the press conference had completed. Floyd complied and they both smiled nicely for the photo taken by I believe it was the sister of Ortiz. This was the only time in observing twenty five years of boxing press conferences that I witnessed a main event challenger ask the champion to take a personal photo with his family. Coincidence? Or further inside job evidence?
