By Lem Satterfield, FanHouse
About nine days before Floyd Mayweather ended a 21-month retirement with a September 19, 2009, unanimous decision over WBA and WBO lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez, his former promoter, Bob Arum, CEO of Top Rank, ripped him as "a fighter who stinks his opponent out," who, "doesn't engage," and, "fights scared."
"He's a great defensive fighter, but people don't want to spend money watching a defensive fighter," said Arum, who called Mayweather "a tremendous talent."
"Mayweather will not engage an opponent, and that makes a stinking fight," said Arum. "And if people are being asked to pay $50 to watch it on pay per view, I can see their reluctance."
In addition to Arum, UFC President, Dana White also took shots at Mayweather-Marquez, saying, "Floyd wants you to pay to see him run around in circles, and lay on the ropes, and move around and not fight."
Although criticized for his lack of drawing ability and the fact that he was facing a smaller man in his return bout, Mayweather (40-0, 25 knockouts), who out-weighed Marquez 146-to-142 pounds, was nevertheless a pay-per-view hit.
Mayweather-Marquez resulted in an unexpected 1.05 million buys, which, at the time, was only the fifth non-heavyweight fight to reach seven figures.
Mayweather addressed his marketability during Thursday's conference call with reporters, promoting his May 1 clash with WBA welterweight champion Shane Mosley (46-5, 39 KOs) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
"Everybody's entitled to their own opinion. Of course, I want to please the fans, and I want to please everybody that's buying pay-per-view. But self-preservation is the law of the land, and I come first. I'm going to fight for Floyd Mayweather first," said Mayweather, whose split-decision victory over Oscar de la Hoya in May 2007 sold a record 2.4 million, and whose 10th-round knockout over Ricky Hatton drew 920,000.
"Bob Arum always says that I can't draw flies," said Mayweather. "That's something that he's going to say forever. But the thing is, he's always trying to get his fighters to fight me."
While away from the sport following the win over Hatton, Mayweather's cross-over appeal lead to his participation in "Dancing With The Stars" and defeating professional wrestling's "Big Show" in a highly-viewed match.
"Actually, when Floyd came back, he was bigger than he was when he left the sport. All that it did was give him a chance to spend more time with his family, and to give him a chance to really enjoy his time off," Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather promotions, said of Mayweather, who briefly interrupted the conference call to pick up his young daughter from school, where he said, "She's was getting an award today for being the No. 1 student in her school."
"He's always known that he's the best," said Ellerbe. "And the reason why he's the best is that he's never been beaten."
Mayweather expressed disappointment in the comments made by White, saying that he "was friends with Dana White before he even got involved with the MMA."
"Dana White used to be with my uncle Jeff. He's one of the guys who helped Dana White get started. Somebody had to teach him about boxing, and my uncle, Jeff Mayweather, taught him about boxing," said Mayweather, who said that he once advertised a product of White's on his boxing trunks earlier in his career.
"After the Marquez fight, I called Dana White up, and I just talked to him like a man. I said, 'I don't have nothing against you at all. You know? You do your thing, and I wish you guys nothing but the best. And I'm pretty sure that you feel the same way,'" Mayweather said.
He continued, "I asked him if he wanted to go and eat lunch and sit down like men and talk about it. And he said that he would get back with me. He never called, but I never worried about it. Every fighter's ultimate goal is to fight Floyd Mayweather. No matter what happens. If you notice, de la Hoya got his biggest payday fighting Floyd Mayweather. Shane Mosley is getting his biggest payday with Floyd Mayweather. And the list goes on and on."
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
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