Mayweather Family Feud, Baldomir, De La Hoya, who comes out on top?
WELTERWEIGHT CHAMP CONSTANTLY DISSED
Cambridge, MA-As with all things World welterweight king Carlos Baldomir (43-9-6, 13 KOs), the hype surrounding his upcoming World & WBC title fight against undefeated welterweight and polar opposite in both publicity and record, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (36-0, 24 KOs), amounts to little more than an apathetic, barely audible whisper. Part of the blame lies in the hands of Baldomir for never caring to learn the definition of self-promotion. The failure of members of the boxing community to pay too much attention to this match mostly arises from the years spent in speculation about yet another Mayweather fight.
MAYWEATHER & OSCAR, IS IT THAT BIG A THING?
Floyd Mayweather-Oscar De La Hoya, which if it ever occurs, is considered by most seasoned boxing analysts to possibly be the greatest fight of the generation. Receiving Mayweather-Baldomir instead, after the long wait, is a flashback to childhood when, at Christmas, after being promised a pony since Thanksgiving, one receives a pair of socks. Someone explaining to you that the socks are much more useful in winter than the pony does not make matters any better.
AN UGLY SCENARIO FOR SURE
In this case, our pony has turned into quite a Bucephalus, apparently tame only to the eager fans, and injuring anyone and everyone involved: fighters, promoters, relatives, and trainers. Topping the list of this disheveled cast of characters is Oscar De La Hoya’s (38-4, 30 KOs) trainer, Floyd Mayweather, Sr. The elder Mayweather has acknowledged both the inevitability of a fight between his boxer and his son and that of the complete destruction of his already shady image. He can either choose to unceremoniously abandon the boxer he guided to superstardom for the past six years or teach a friend how to systematically obliterate his son: the epitome of a lose-lose situation. To save face, he has attempted to secure the position everyone from promoter Bob Arum, who Mayweather, Jr. left in order to fight De La Hoya, to "Little Floyd" himself is vying for- that of innocent bystander. Mayweather, Sr., has said time and again that he adamantly opposes this bout and would do anything in his power to prevent it from happening. The problem, of course, is that there is little he could do from his position. His son has proven to care little about his father’s opinion; De La Hoya respects him, but boxing immortality sealed by a final victory against Mayweather, Jr. sounds much more valuable than his relationship with his trainer, especially now, at the sunset of his career. To appease Mayweather, Sr., De La Hoya has taken a Pontius Pilate attitude towards the fight- when the people speak, the fighter must listen and wash his hands of the matter.
MILLE, SHE ISN'T HAPPY EITHER
Mayweather, Sr., does not stand alone as an expendable obstacle to what Mayweather, Jr., refusing to mince words, claims will be a fight for the ages. Country music sensation Millie Corretjer, De La Hoya’s wife, applies more than a little pressure on Oscar to retire; at 33, with an infant child less than a year old, and an incomplete musical career, De La Hoya has a lot left to live for. Corretjer has publicly hoped her son doesn’t enter the family business for fear of his being injured, though with the success of Golden Boy Productions, De La Hoya should fear the repetitive nature of history more than the maiming of his eponymous child. The Puerto Rican Shania Twain is no fan of watching her husband’s face deform before her eyes, regularly being swept into a panic at his fights. While her antics might not be enough to deter the Golden Boy, the psychological implications of having everyone around him of import opposing the fight that would make him legendary could weaken him enough to give Mayweather the lead, and thus make the entire ordeal a waste of time for De La Hoya, assuming that for a champion of his caliber, money is a non-issue.
LIKE FATHER, NOT LIKE SON!
On the younger Mayweather’s end, the guilt of putting his father in a position where he has to repeatedly confirm that he loves his son might be enough to move him if Floyd, Jr. has matured from the days when he had no qualms about leaving his father out on the street after ejecting him from his own home. This seems unlikely, however, especially considering his status as the leading voice supporting the fight. The biggest danger for him, who should be getting used to the moniker “Fraud Mayweather” by now, is alienating even more of the boxing community, especially the fans with little background in the sport who will only see him standing alone for a cause many big names oppose, or are at least ambivalent about.
WORLD CHAMPION GETS SECOND-RATE STATUS
Carlos Baldomir, the true victim of all this chaos, neglected and grossly underpaid, has predictably kept his mouth shut, other than the usual fatigued platitudes affirming his superiority as a fighter. A victory over Mayweather, not the most likely of circumstances, could silence the aimless conjecture surrounding De La Hoya-Mayweather for years. The fate of the proposed fight- and the reputations of those involved- now lie in the hands of a completely unrelated entity, a fighter who, just months ago, was of no consequence to anyone in the boxing world, and who continues acting as if he means the same thing to boxing he did before upsetting Zab Judah (34-4, 25 KOs) several months ago.
13 September, 2006 by Frances Martel
Lets hope Tata don't play the spoiler!! :P
Re: Mayweather Family Feud, Baldomir, De La Hoya, who comes out on top?
