Mayweather: Media Critic

From the AP, Floyd Mayweather on HBO:

“They talk about Kelly Pavlik, a white fighter, like he's the second coming. Or they go crazy over Manny Pacquiao. But I'm a black fighter," Mayweather said. "Is it racial? Absolutely. They praise white fighters, they praise Hispanic fighters, whatever. But black fighters, they never praise.

The idea that Jim Lampley, Larry Merchant, et al don’t praise black fighters is ridiculous. They like action fighters, as does any fan. That’s precisely what Floyd isn’t, but the HBO team was always extremely effusive in its praise of Floyd’s technical talent. The one legitimate complaint about one of the best broadcasting squads in any sport is that they go easy on house fighters, that is, fighters who have multi-fight deals with HBO. Among the worst examples of this were with black fighters like Jermain Taylor and Roy Jones.

As far as Pavlik, he is a white American top 10 pound-for-pound entry in a glamour division with huge punching power. When was the last time you could say that? Jake LaMotta? Certainly well before my time. If there was a black guy in the NHL playing like Mario Lemiuex, the relative excitement would be comparable.

Floyd’s right that the most popular fighters today aren’t African Americans, but that’s not limited to HBO, nor is it a product of racism. Anyone who pays attention to the sport, from HBO on down, gets behind guys who hit hard, get hit themselves, and are willing to fight great opposition. With the exception of Shane Mosley, the best recent examples of this profile haven’t been African Americans. For whatever reason, guys who looked like they could fill this role over the past couple of years —Taylor, Jeff Lacy, Allan Green— haven’t panned out the way Pacquiao has, or the way Tommy Hearns and Mike Tyson did a generation ago. It’s luck of the draw more than anything. Of today’s young African American rising stars —Andre Ward, Tim Bradley, Paul Williams— chances are that there will be a few more fan favorites.