In a new series, published every weekday on Boxing Social, the incomparable Terry Dooley delivers his unique look at the boxing news.
Despite the fact that he officially retired from boxing in 2017, Floyd Mayweather (50-0, 27 KOs) continues to generate headlines around the world. Indeed, “Money” still seems to be the go-to guy for journalists who are either too lazy or lacking in resources to find real stories, and this in turn provides a trickledown effect for anyone else out there who thinks that just throwing his name out will earn them clicks and clout. It is almost as if all you need to do to pump out a few words is Google ‘Floyd Mayweather’ or check out his social media accounts.
Mayweather’s cousin has recently claimed that the former world champion did not want to hurt YouTube’s Logan Paul during their recent exhibition, so he carried his opponent in order to make sure that fans who paid for the event were given value for money and hadn’t made a mistake by shelling out for it.
Mayweather has form for this, he clearly carried the UFC’s Connor McGregor in their 2017 contest, which is not the first time the Dubliner has had to be propped up for long periods, and he admits that he did the same thing for Paul, although Paul is still labouring under the delusion that he was halfway competitive in their “fight”.
Dejuan Blake, Mayweather’s cousin, told The Sun that Mayweather saw the contest as a bit of fun and did not want to harm a raw novice. “He didn’t want to hurt Logan Paul,” stated Blake. “Once again, it’s an exhibition, like Floyd said, he’s not a boxer, why would he want him to get hurt and not be able to go home and talk to his family. One punch could change the game, why would he want to hurt him like that.”
It certainly was an exhibition. However, Paul had previously told TMZ that he would like a rematch with Mayweather in a real fight, vowing to “knock out” the all-time great if they were to meet for real. “Let me ask you what you’d rather see — Jake Paul versus Floyd or me versus Floyd again because, let me tell you something, if I fight Floyd again, I promise I’ll knock him out.”
“I’ve got him figured out,” he added, warming into the routine. “I got it. At the end of the eighth round, he was breathing heavy, I was coming alive. It’s going to be a 10 or 12-round fight, if we run it back, and this time I finish him.”
The thought of Mayweather-McGregor once seemed ludicrous, then it happened. Mayweather-Tenshin Nasukawa was deemed a step too far, then Mayweather battered him in a round and pocketed the cash. Surely, we would never be forced to watch Mayweather-Logan, right? Wrong, it happened, and don’t bet against it happening again with a side order of real beef as Logan seeks to avenge his…whatever it was.
Mayweather might just need the money, though, as the Daily Star Online recently did some long-form journalism to expose the shocking fact that “Money” still likes to spend his hard-earned cash and therefore needs to continue making it.
In a stunning expose of his Instagram page, the national newspaper’s very own Ollie Carlson discovered that Mayweather buys stuff, a lot of stuff, and has splashed out an obscene amount of money on cars. Mayweather dubbed his collection the “Sweet Sixteen” on a recent public Instagram post.
“Options, options, options,” said Mayweather. “I’ve got about a hundred cars. This right here is the ‘Sweet 16’.”
We discovered that a lot of Mayweather’s cars are black, and he has 16 favourites, so we can only presume that black is his favourite colour after years of playing the black-hatted villain during his boxing career. Mayweather ended the clip by announcing that he was going out for an evening of entertainment at his local strip club in Las Vegas.
Despite spending money hand over fist, Mayweather has boasted that he pocketed around $100 million from his PPV showdown against Paul, a figure most fighters can only dream of, and he made things clear for anyone out there who thinks his earning power has been diminished in retirement.
“I’m the only person you know that could do a fake fight and get 100 million — I could do legalised sparring and get 100 million,” he recently declared.
Amid all the tales of the glitz and the glamour, 50 Cent has revealed to Yahoo! Sports how Mayweather managed to get to and, more importantly, stay at the top for well over a decade.
When asked about Mayweather’s work ethic, Cent told Yahoo! a story about Mayweather’s preparation for his 2012 win over Miguel Cotto. Mayweather abandoned plans to visit a strip club in Orlando after securing the fight and according to Cent, he: “He did six miles (of running) that night.
“I thought he was crazy. I thought he was joking. I have never before just seen a person start randomly training like that. We were so far away from the gym; we weren’t even close. Before that, we were going to a strip club.
“That is what he is all about, working hard and showing that kind of extreme work ethic no one else has. He showed a lot of spirit and determination. Everyone understands what it takes to be successful, but he does it better than anyone.”
Despite a few cuts and bruises, Mayweather cantered to yet another win over yet another very good opponent before spending some time in prison for domestic violence. He then came out and reeled out wins over Robert Guerrero, Saul Alvarez, Marcus Maidana, twice, Manny Pacquiao and Andre Berto before retiring to a life of relative obscurity.
Some reporters at ringside weren’t the only people who picked up a hand injury following Ebanie Bridges latest win on Saturday night, a third-round stoppage over Bec Connolly (now 3-10, no stoppages), as the Australian-based boxer has revealed that she suffered a muscle tear in her left hand ahead of the contest so she, like many of her fans, had to go through the fight with only the use of one hand.
Speaking to Instagram’s Instagram, Bridges (6-1, 3 KOs) told her fans that she had picked up the injury weeks before the fight, but she decided to fight on through the pain barrier. ‘Practice makes perfect,’ she wrote. ‘For the last few weeks of camp, I only had my right arm so I practiced this shot so many times. I was gutted when I tore my left lat’ but I wasn’t pulling out cos I still had my right!”
Bridges shared footage of her working the right hand to bring it up-to-speed enough to ensure that she could ease by the luckless “Lady Luck” Connolly, who had lost three in a row going in. Speaking to DAZN after the fight, “The Blonde Bomber” called for a rematch with WBA Female bantamweight titlist Shannon Courtenay, who beat her over 10 back in May.
“Hopefully she wants it, but she’s on her journey and I’ve got to focus on me,” she said. “I don’t hold my breath. Really the ball is in her court and if she doesn’t take it, I suppose it looks like she’s running.”
If you go down to the gym today, then please do it in a safe, sustainable and planet saving way. That is the motto of the Terra Hale gym. Terra Hale translates into “Strong earth” and the gym chain’s owner, Michal Homola, believes that eco-gyms are the way forward.
The gym is committed to sustainability: the exercise bikes generate reusable electricity, there is low-energy lighting and clients are encouraged not to use plastic water bottles. Michal opened his first gym three years ago and the 37-year-old has told Anna Maxted of the Daily Mail that he hopes to take his chain global in the coming years.
“When people want to get fit, lose weight, or gain muscle, all they need to do is to release energy,” he explained. “Why wouldn’t we harness this energy? Fifty years ago, my grandfather had a bicycle and there was a dynamo on the front wheel. At night you’d flick it, and as you cycled the light would come on. This is not something new; it’s just never been put into practice.”
It may seem gimmicky, but Michal has put his money where his mouth is by investing in eco-bikes that cost over £3000 a pop, LED lighting, bamboo and metal hybrid flasks, and training equipment that is made from recycled materials. He wants to ensure that the message of sustainability is spread far and wide.
“Most gyms are big contributors to the carbon footprint,” he argued.
“You’ve got all the treadmills which usually take around 3,500 kilowatts an hour of electricity consumption, all the towels being washed in a non-sustainable way, all the plastic bottles, which are rarely recycled, and all the lighting and air conditioning.”
With three sites up-and-running, Terra Hale ensures that there is a socially distanced space for people to train in an eco-friendly way with one-off session subs of between £55-80 in place to ensure that the regular person on the street can train for a few hours with the peace of mind that comes with knowing that their money is helping to reduce the UK’s carbon footprint.
“We don’t allow people to enter with plastic,” said Michal, although it is presumed that credit cards and debit cards are given a pass. To add to the effect, new members are honoured by the planting of a rubber tree in India. “One rubber tree absorbs one tonne of carbon dioxide in its lifetime,” explained Michal. “And three to five years after planting it, you can tap the sides, harvest the rubber, and produce latex. We make resistance bands, yoga mats and everything we use in the gym that’s made from rubber.”
Even the coaching staff wear sustainable clothes before teaching their clients how to get fit and box. The gloves and pads are handmade by a family in Pakistan and then flown over to the UK, trees are planted to offset the sizeable carbon footprints created by the flights.
For Michal, the mission is clear: “Without the planet, we are nothing,” he said. “We need to treat it as a whole ecosystem our body, our mind, our planet.” He now hopes to take the brand global and introduce a way of training that will sustain the earth, but at its current rates it might not sustain too many wallets and purses.
The man dubbed “The world’s oldest boxer” hung up his teeth this week at the age of 64 with a title win in his final fight. That headline isn’t quite the truth, though, as Nottingham’s Steve Ward has been fighting off the BBBoC-approved circuit for years and has ended his career by winning a Veterans’ world title on an off-circuit show.
Ward lost to the likes of Ensley Bingham, Crawford Ashley and Frank Grant in the 1980s. His last registered bout was an off-circuit loss to Jody Meikle in December 2015. Ward was floored three times by Meikle yet continued to find a way to fight right into his 60s and he is happy with the way he has ended his career, especially as he floored his opponent three times en route to the “world title” win.
“I’ve gone out in style,” he told Martin Fricker of the Daily Mirror. “I am the world champion. I’ve done it, I have got there. I’ve done it for my Queen and country. There’s sadness as well — it’s been a long career.”
“It is good to go out on a high,” he added. “I have achieved what I set out to do and it’s a fantastic achievement.”
While arguments continue to rage over the BBBoC’s stance on off-circuit shows, the likes of Ward take their fights just as seriously as the ones that are licenced by the Board, plus he has the added bonus of being recognised as the world’s oldest active boxer in the Guinness Book of Records.
His win over Romania’s 50-year-old Adrian Parlogea has scratched an itch that Ward was clearly unable to shift. He can now move on from boxing with a final fond memory of it — how many much more successful fighters get to say that at the end of their career?
“I still feel like I’m in my 20s but it’s time to step back from the boxing ring now,” he said, quashing talk of a comeback. “I have loved every minute of it, and I must admit if I had the chance all over again I would do the same.”