Call it boredom, stupidity, or Money May being Money May, but Floyd Mayweather crossed the boundaries in his video rant towards Manny Pacquiao last week.
His 10-minute UStream broadcast last Thursday was nothing more than a homophobic, racist rant against Manny Pacquiao and Filipinos.
“I’m on vacation for about a year, about a year,” Mayweather said in the clip. “As soon as we come off vacation, we’re going to cook that little yellow chump. We ain’t worried about that. So they ain’t gotta worry about me fighting the midget. Once I kick the midget ass, I don’t want you all to jump on my d—. So you all better get on the bandwagon now. … Once I stomp the midget, I’ll make that mother f—— make me a sushi roll and cook me some rice.”
The timing of the video is almost as confusing as Mayweather thinking Filipinos eat sushi. Talks between Mayweather and Pacquiao have stalled since July and all signs point to 2011 as the earliest a fight could happen between the two boxers.
Mayweather wasted little time before recording an apology, which came off as insincere.
WATCH THE MAYWEATHER RANT HERE:
[youtubevid http://youtube.com/watch?v=RN-4cLGcdAA?fs=1&hl=en_US]
“I do want to apologize for what happen the other night,” Mayweather said in another UStream video on Saturday. “I want to apologize to everybody as they said they thought it was racists’ comments that came from me. I don’t have a racist bone in my body. I love everybody. Some of my guys are Muslim, some of my guys are Jews, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, whites … it doesn’t matter. I got nothing but love in my heart. But if anyone was affected from what I said the other day, I apologize as a man and forgive me for saying what I said. I was just having fun. I didn’t really mean it. Nothing in a bad way.”
Is that what’s considered fun these days? If Manny Pacquiao said he was going to make Floyd Mayweather make him a plate of fried chicken and collard greens, would it be fun then? Hardly. Mr. Opportunist himself, the Rev. Al Sharpton, would have sweated out his perm in leading a rally down Las Vegas Blvd. if the roles were reversed.
For the most part, Pacquiao has been relatively quiet regarding the video. “I just heard about that, but I didn’t see the video,” Pacquiao said last Friday, at a press conference to promote his Nov. 13 fight against Antonio Margarito. “But it’s an uneducated message.”
However, the National Federation of Filipino American Associations have been more vocal and released a statement along with urging the NAACP and other civil rights organizations to denounce Mayweather’s tirade. “We are outraged by Mayweather’s racially offensive remarks, NaFFAA national chairman Greg Macabenta said in a statement. “This disgusting diatribe against Pacquiao is a racial slur against all Filipinos and Filipino Americans and an embarrassment not only to the boxing community, but to all Americans. Talking trash may be common between boxing rivals, but Mayweather’s racially laced profanities brazenly crossed the line of decency and respectability.”
There are more effective ways for a fighter to get under an opponent’s skin.
When Bernard Hopkins, the master of mind games, took on Felix “Tito” Trinidad in 2001, he threw down the Puerto Rican flag during their first press conference in New York City. Hopkins’ shenanigans continued during a press conference at Roberto Clemente Stadium in front of 10,000 fans in Puerto Rico. This time, a riot ensued that chased Hopkins out of the stadium. Days before the fight, Hopkins planted the final mental seed and presented Trinidad with bags of rice and beans to signify his “last meal.”
Hopkins later apologized for his actions, but it proved to be effective as Trinidad suffered his first professional loss at the hands of “The Executioner.”
Truth be told, this fight needs to happen more than ever now. It’s pretty clear that Mayweather is going to continue to run his mouth until both sides agree on a drug-testing policy. What makes Mayweather’s comments even more pathetic is, he has proven, at least in my eyes, to be the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world. I had a front row view of Mayweather’s last two fights against “Sugar” Shane Mosley and Juan Manuel Marquez and his speed and power would give Pacquiao fits.
I get that Mayweather has a certain villain image that he’s trying to live up to, but in this instance, silence is golden.