Not for nothing guys, but the comments some of you sent kind of validate his holier than thou attitude and his obnoxious view of the average fight fan that is watching from the outside and doesn't have his insight into the fight game.
We all know he plays heavily on politics side of boxing and the business angle of it no matter what he says in the post fight interviews about giving the fans what they want. The fans don't get in the ring or having someone trying to take their head off for money...so He's never going to concede to the wishes of armchair Napoleons that watch the fight from home and shout things like "coward!" and "fake" and etc. or flame him on the Internet.
He shows when he does get in the ring what many people refuse to believe about his heart or his skills. There will always be doubters and people saying this one is better that one better... or trying to trivialize his accomplishments. (the comments posted have proved his point)
Now I'm not saying the guy shouldn't be taken to task for his shortcomings here or there or posturing when it comes to negotiations... but when he showcases his skills, people change their tunes for a few weeks.. wonder why doubted him and start to make excuses just like he said they would. Give the man his credit when he deserves it and not nitpick over every unfulfilled desire you had for him fighting every flavor of the year fighter that eventually got exposed. The ducking accusation are marginal at some points, because the perspectives are so different. People wanted him to fight everyone close his weight division that had a name coming up. For him many of those fights were just foregone conclusion ended with a win that couldn't even pay for the lifestyle he views himself accustomed to. Has he inflated that lifestyle and made it harder to fight certain fighters for the money being offered? sure. The market price has a hard time keeping up with his lifestyle and that sucks for the fight fan because theres so few attractions now. As a skilled fighter in an age of volume punchers, he's a rare commodity and unfortunately for us, he knows it and charges accordingly and more often than not outrageously.
To look at things from his perspective....Would you train for months to fight some hype machine you already know you can beat easily.. only to earn a few dollars after the expenses are covered... just so joe schmo sitting at home can think more of you. Not to mention more of the politics and subsequent moneys that can hinder upon this decision. (Would the TV networks buy the fight; whats to gain besides the money (rankings, extensions on mandatorys, risk losing fights with bigger or better names for more money that the same promoter wants to protect... or a lesser opponents promoter is willing to feed to you. Who is the other guys promoter.. will he only sign the deal if he can lock you down for a co-promotion and take a piece of the earnings for the next 2 fights?)
Most fighters are trying to do the smart thing now by fighting under their own promotional banner to protect themselves, keep more of the money that they get punched in the head for and spend those months training for. The days of fighters fighting for pride and little else every two weeks or so to prove who was the best while just scraping by financially, are long gone. I like braddocks cinderella man story too, but ask a guy like Mclennan, Page or their families, if they had it all to do again, would they play it more cagey when it came to compensation for competition if they could... and I think you'll have a better understanding of why Floyd plays the game the way he plays it.