My mailbox was flooded after my last column on BoxingTalk where I said Oscar De La Hoya should have someone else besides Floyd Mayweather Sr. as his trainer for his May 5 showdown against Floyd Mayweather Jr. A father training someone to beat up his son in the biggest fight of his son’s career still doesn’t sit well with me. And I repeated my stance on the Stephen A. Smith Show recently. But that’s my opinion.
I thought I’d share some of my email on the controversial topic to offer a taste of what you the readers think. I omitted names, but the viewpoints are legit.
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“I agree with you Mr. Willis. For the best of boxing and more important for the best of the Mayweather family, Oscar must choose another trainer. We don't need this kind of scenario in any kind of business or for that matter in life itself. It'll become the focal point in all media coverage and eclipse the awe of the tremendous fight this could be.”
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“Dude I think it’s good that Mayweather Sr. be in de la Hoya's corner against his brother and son. Now we can have a little bit more action in between rounds than the usual things they tell boxers at the end of the round. Can you imagine what will be said in each corner? The war of words; the no give a inch strategy from both trainers who are brothers that don't like each other. This is going to be a war and a circus at the same time.”
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“Brilliantly stated piece and I absolutely agree that Teddy Atlas is the man for the job. If this is going to be “the most anticipated mega-fight” since Lewis vs. Tyson, it needs to remain a sports extravaganza, not a script from the WWE playbook.”
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“I submit that Naazim Richardson would be a great trainer for Oscar. He's studied Oscar a great deal, and he's under the Golden Boy auspices. He has a precise way of getting his ideas across in the corner, and he's entertaining and witty.”
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“Hey man, Happy New Year! I agree with you completely regarding the Mayweathers. Oscar is in a precarious position though. He needs to be able to consult with Floyd Sr. and not alienate him to the point where he defects to his son’s camp. But the side-show atmosphere will sell tickets. Floyd Sr. is a very volatile dude and may feel disrespected by Oscar if he is dumped for (Freddie) Roach or anybody else. I like Teddy Atlas and believe he would jump at the opportunity to train Oscar and try to remove the aura of invincibility surrounding Pretty Boy Floyd. I just believe that Floyd is too good for Oscar and it won’t matter who Oscar has in his corner. I also believe that Floyd is stronger and hits harder than most people believe and I point to Carlos Baldomir’s face as proof. I believe that Floyd Jr. will be stronger and somewhat bigger with incredible defense, stamina and speed. His ability to adapt in the ring will nullify Oscar’s size advantage, left hook and jab. Floyd will be able to frustrate Oscar more easily than Pernell Whitaker was able to and counter Oscar with much harder punches than Sweet Pea. It will be a one-sided stick and move event with Floyd KOing the Golden one late with a body shot or receiving the UD."
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“You are absolutely right. We don’t need no side show. All we need is a good boxing match. I truly respect Floyd Sr. But if he takes this fight, he’ll be haunted for the rest of his life. Boxing is a gladiator sport. You can die in there. God forbid that happens to Lil Floyd with his dad in the opposing corner. It’s not worth it. He should not be involved at all. He should not want anything to do with beating his son. If anything they should try and make up and he consults his son.”
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At the beginning or your article, I thought..."This is dude is going overboard to write something controversial." It seems that some (of) your writing is deliberate with the intent of creating a reaction, which in turn feels predictable and sometimes unbelievable. As I read on though, I was actually convinced that you really feel that Floyd Sr. shouldn't train against Floyd Jr. You provided a number of really solid points...(e.g. what if Floyd starts getting beat up bad, somebody's dream is on the verge of being destroyed, and so on). What about the potential upside though...the possibility that they might be able to leave it all in the ring...Reconcile their differences once and for all. Floyd Jr. is a fighter and Floyd Sr. is a trainer. Floyd Sr. should not be unemployed because Floyd Jr. is in the other corner. You are attempting to cast doubt on the very question that intrigues me most about this fight...which is whether Floyd Sr. and disassemble a style that he created. He put the machine together...but can he take it apart?”
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“I don’t think you make sense in your assessment of the situation between Oscar and Floyd Jr. It’s a job. Nothing more and nothing less. The only people who control whether or not this is a big deal is people like yourself. And this is hardly the biggest fight of Oscar’s career. (For) Floyd, maybe, Oscar, no. He had that fight with Trinidad, and sadly it didn’t go his way. He’s on the downside of his career. This fight doesn’t mean anything to his pockets, and minimal to his legacy.”
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“This controversy, as it unfolds on primetime talk shows, would serve to add thousands more viewers that would otherwise not watch. Don’t think DLH, the business man, is not thinking about that. Also Sr. has been with Oscar for a while, so it’s not like he’s doing just this one fight because of the feud with his son. Oscar only needs Floyd Sr. to prepare him for the fight. At this stage Oscar could very easily do this fight with just a cut man. So, there should be no fear of Floyd Sr. having second thoughts if his son is getting pounded. It would probably go quick anyway. It’s not like Oscar is going to give a prolonged beating to PBF. If Oscar is going to hurt Floyd, it will likely go quick as Oscar hurts PBF with a big punch and finishes him quick. If there is any drawn out beating. (it) will be done by PBF and not Oscar, although it’s hard to see PBF seriously hurting Oscar. In other words, I see this fight going in two ways… PBF carefully outboxes Oscar or Oscar stops Floyd after seriously hurting him with a big left hook.”
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“I agree Oscar is in a tough spot. I still think more of the negative attention deserves to go towards Floyd Jr. than Floyd Sr. He's the one that sold his father out and makes every claim to Uncle Roger being the mind behind Jr.'s success. Not exactly a good son action. Jr. is the one who "decided" his father shouldn't be a part of his life anymore. He waited until after all the work his father put into him to make him great. Then he leaves his dad to fend for himself as a part-time trainer of other fighters while Jr. took every verbal shot at him he could. I agree Floyd Sr. shouldn't be in either corner for that fight. But Floyd Jr. is a backstabbing little kid and anything his dad did or said pales in comparison to what that guy has done to his family.”
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“I agree. I think Oscar should perhaps choose another trainer for his May 5th showdown. Maybe Floyd Sr. can train him but just not actually be in the corner. Reason being, that if this fight were to come down to a gruesome bloodfest with his son on the worse end, he's going to react or he's going to shutdown. Regardless of how distant Floyd Sr. and Floyd Jr. are - they are family.”
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