It’s fitting that the venue that hosted Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s recent visit to STL was none other than The Pageant. Word on the street is that Mayweather’s trademark obnoxiousness was in full form as the pound-for-pound king reportedly beckoned girls onstage to dance for him, then had security literally snatch them off the stage if he was unsatisfied by their looks or dancing skills.
None of that should be a surprise, however, as the former Dancing With the Stars contestant recently put Marcos Maidana and Amir Khan through their own dog and pony show in an effort to allow his fans to select his next opponent.
Of course, the entire ordeal was a sham. No disrespect to Khan or Maidana, but if an open, Family Feud-style poll was taken, neither would have likely represented the No. 1, 2 or 3 answers. Neither fighter is considered a legitimate threat to Mayweather by media experts or hardcore boxing fans. Across social media, countless fans replied to Mayweather’s promo posts with write-in votes for none other than Manny Pacquiao.
The deafening silence was expected though as Mayweather recently vowed that he will never fight Pacquiao. The reason this time is due to his acrimonious relationship with Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum. It’s clear to all unbiased eyes that Mayweather wants no part of Pacquiao, for whatever reason.
It’s nearly impossible to make an argument that Khan is a more worthy opponent that Pac-Man. Maidana has struggled against both bigger fighters and technical boxers. Mayweather represents both. A Maidana matchup would’ve at least passed the storyline test after his unexpected but impressive win over Mini Mayweather aka Adrien Broner. Still both are essential fights with predetermined outcomes.
If Mayweather won’t fight Pacquiao, fine. Many boxing fans gave up hope on ever seeing a Mayweather-Pacquiao mega fight long ago. Names like Timothy Bradley, Keith Thurman, Gennady Golovkin and Danny Garcia may not be household names to the general public, but they’d all represent unique challenges for Mayweather. Regarding the lack of mainstream name recognition, let’s be honest, if Mayweather can sell out The Pageant so folks could watch him throw thirsty women off stage, he can sell out a fight against any legitimate opponent in the world. At least include them on the poll.
Imagine if the Miami Heat were allowed to choose an NBA Finals opponent and put up a poll for fans to choose between the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Orlando Magic.
To this point, Mayweather has not yet finalized the bout with Khan but it’s likely just a matter of time. Khan is the opponent Mayweather wanted all along so he can tap into the British common wealth. If you recall, there was much talk of a bout between Mayweather and the winner of a proposed bout between Khan and STL’s own Devon Alexander. Once Khan learned he could land the Mayweather bout without facing Alexander, he quickly sidestepped the bout (which is how Alexander ended up facing Shawn Porter).
Going back to the official poll, Khan won with 57 percent of more than 35,000 total voters. Interestingly enough, Maidana held a slim lead just a few days before the poll ended before a late Khan surge put it out of reach. Even more interesting is the fact that identical polls by ESPN.com, TheRingTV.com and FightNews.com all had Maidana being chosen by wide margins. Was the fix in? It’s possible that British and other international fans didn’t care enough to visit those US-based websites. With only 35k votes, it’s also evident that the man whose pay-per-view fights are routinely broadcast into more than one million homes got a proverbial shrug from most boxing fans.
If Khan is the guy standing across the ring from Mayweather in May, expect him to fare similarly to Zab Judah, another quick-fisted fighter with a suspect chin. Khan could have moderate success in the first two or three rounds due to his speed. But ‘Money’ will figure him out quickly and discourage him enough to cruise to an easy (and dull) decision victory. Maybe Mayweather’s bouncer can do us all a favor and snatch Khan off the stage before he gets into the bright lights and costs us all $60 at the door.
Follow Ishmael and In the Clutch on Twitter @IshmaelSistrunk and on Google+
