Floyd Mayweather Jr. went off on racism in boxing, and combat sports overall, saying that white fighters like Conor Mcgregor, Ronda Rousey, and middleweight boxer Gennady Golovkin, get preferential treatment from the media.
Mayweather’s taken significant backlash for his remarks, and WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman turned the tables on him.
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“The absolute proof that racism is running out is displayed in the fact that the fighter [to earn] the biggest purse in the history of the boxing is Floyd Mayweather [$300 million for Manny Pacquiao]," Sulaiman said. In fact, Mayweather’s three highest-grossing fights in his career have come against two Mexican opponents, Oscar De La Hoya (2007) and Canelo Alvarez (2013), and against a Filipino, Manny Pacquiao (2015).
Mayweather’s argument about Golovkin calling out smaller opponents, while Bernard Hopkins was criticized for doing the same, also falls short because Golovkin offered to drop to 154 pounds, a weight class where Mayweather holds a world title.
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"You gotta really look at things like this, when Bernard Hopkins was a middleweight trying to fight Oscar De La Hoya, Shane Mosley, and Felix Trinidad, they [the media] said he was calling out smaller guys," Mayweather said to Fight Hype. "When the guy Triple G (Golovkin) does it, they don't say s---. Once again, I'm not racist; I'm just saying racism still exists."
Mayweather has become one of the world’s wealthiest athletes through boxing, and Sulaiman pointed out to ESPN Deportes (via Boxing Scene) that the WBC in particular has proven they won’t tolerate racism by punishing fighters who make racist remarks.
“I am positive that we are doing everything possible to prevent racism in boxing - by ensuring the neutrality of the judges, to ensure there are opportunities for everyone- and in turn that's why we punished Chris Arreola and Adrien Broner for their racist comments,” Sulaiman said.
Mayweather even revealed racism in his own comments decrying the problem, referring to “some Japanese guy” being ranked No. 9, while a black fighter, Andre Ward, who has fought only three times since 2012, had been dropped to No. 4 on the pound-for-pound rankings for The Ring.
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