LAS VEGAS — ESPN’s “Outside the Lines” kicked off the Worldwide Leader’s weeklong coverage of “THE FIGHT OF THE CENTURY!!’’ by burying Floyd Mayweather, Jr. under an avalanche of police reports and court records relating to at least six domestic violence charges and three convictions. None of this was news, except to the Worldwide Leader.
That Mayweather is not someone most of you would want dating your sister is hardly breaking new ground. He did two months in jail several years ago for assaulting the mother of three of his children and has since been accused of choking and threatening his former fiancee, Shantel Jackson, while allegedly asking her what toe she wanted him to shoot off with her pistol.
These are seriously troubling matters and deserved to be re-aired, but “Outside the Lines” also did a “60 Minutes got ya’’’-style interview with Nevada State Athletic Commissioner Pat Lundvall that was patently unfair, repeatedly asking her why she and her colleagues approved a boxing license for Mayweather despite his past problems.
She pointed out the courts had punished Mayweather, he’d served his time and no new criminal charges had been filed, just a civil suit from Jackson, who Mayweather claims is looking for one last payday. Whatever the truth of that, Lundvall’s point was well taken.
As far as anyone knows, no boxer has ever been denied a license in Nevada because of a domestic abuse charge. The long history of the sport is littered with ex-cons and reformed (and some not so reformed) street thugs who bettered themselves by legally battering others. Why ESPN would suggest it should be different for Mayweather when he has not been charged with domestic violence since serving his time three years ago is difficult to fathom, but there was something deeper going on that went all but unnoticed.
The same ESPN that called the NSAC into question and postulated that Mayweather is free to box because of the money his fight this weekend with Manny Pacquiao will generate (which is true, by the way) is also putting more than a few of those dollars in its own pocket.
The same network that rehashed Mayweather’s sad past is the one televising his promotional company’s fight card Friday night from Las Vegas and paying him to do so. It’s the network that is doing “SportsCenter,” the anchor of its daily broadcasts, live from Las Vegas this week, too.
It’s the same network whose latest issue of ESPN the Magazine has a lengthy cover story on, guess who? This serial woman beater is on that cover to sell magazines.
ESPN also has its top boxing analyst, Teddy Atlas, in Las Vegas to speak about the fight and analyze it throughout the week and to make appearances down the lengthy conga line of radio shows along Radio Row, a mini Super Bowl of talking heads. Why? Mayweather sells.
The “Outside the Lines” show ran on a Sunday morning, not exactly prime time in the sports world. Much of the week-long huckstering by ESPN, which has already included a lengthy interview by Stephen A. Smith, a knowledgeable guy and a fan of Mayweather’s boxing skills though not other parts of his lifestyle, will run in prime time. About the toughest question asked by Smith after spending seven hours with Mayweather was: “How much did this one cost, my man?” while walking through a garage filled with million dollar automobiles.
This does not make ESPN unique. Every media entity imaginable — from the Wall Street Journal to Al-Jazeera — is here. CBS’ Katie Couric, who admitted not knowing a left hook from a fish hook, visited Mayweather, interviewing him with the coquettish way she has at times. So did an ESPN reporter asking him along a rope line about his past problems with domestic violence. Mayweather’s response was to keep telling folks to tune in May 2 (at $100 a pop). Exactly what that visual was supposed to accomplish is difficult to fathom.
The point is this: if Floyd Mayweather, Jr. ran his private life in as disciplined a fashion as his public training he wouldn’t have the kind of problems ESPN found to be new news even though they were yesterday’s news. That he doesn’t is on him.
But no one, including ESPN, is here to fight domestic violence, unfortunately. They’re here for the same reason Mayweather is. They’re here for the money. That includes the state of Nevada and the city of Las Vegas, where rooms are going for $1,600 a night on the weekend and ringside seats for $140,000 on the scalper market (the suits call it the “secondary market” but they also call used cars pre-owned vehicles). It also includes ESPN, who will be among Mayweather’s business partners Friday night.
The funny thing about money is it often causes blindness to irony. The same network grilling a NSAC member about why it didn’t deny Mayweather a boxing license for committing disgraceful acts, accepts ads for his fight, does direct business with his company and airs a seemingly endless string of segments to promote it.
Wrap your head around those contradictions and you’ll have an idea what this week in Las Vegas is all about
http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/...spn_hypocritical_in_floyd_mayweather_coverage
That Mayweather is not someone most of you would want dating your sister is hardly breaking new ground. He did two months in jail several years ago for assaulting the mother of three of his children and has since been accused of choking and threatening his former fiancee, Shantel Jackson, while allegedly asking her what toe she wanted him to shoot off with her pistol.
These are seriously troubling matters and deserved to be re-aired, but “Outside the Lines” also did a “60 Minutes got ya’’’-style interview with Nevada State Athletic Commissioner Pat Lundvall that was patently unfair, repeatedly asking her why she and her colleagues approved a boxing license for Mayweather despite his past problems.
She pointed out the courts had punished Mayweather, he’d served his time and no new criminal charges had been filed, just a civil suit from Jackson, who Mayweather claims is looking for one last payday. Whatever the truth of that, Lundvall’s point was well taken.
As far as anyone knows, no boxer has ever been denied a license in Nevada because of a domestic abuse charge. The long history of the sport is littered with ex-cons and reformed (and some not so reformed) street thugs who bettered themselves by legally battering others. Why ESPN would suggest it should be different for Mayweather when he has not been charged with domestic violence since serving his time three years ago is difficult to fathom, but there was something deeper going on that went all but unnoticed.
The same ESPN that called the NSAC into question and postulated that Mayweather is free to box because of the money his fight this weekend with Manny Pacquiao will generate (which is true, by the way) is also putting more than a few of those dollars in its own pocket.
The same network that rehashed Mayweather’s sad past is the one televising his promotional company’s fight card Friday night from Las Vegas and paying him to do so. It’s the network that is doing “SportsCenter,” the anchor of its daily broadcasts, live from Las Vegas this week, too.
It’s the same network whose latest issue of ESPN the Magazine has a lengthy cover story on, guess who? This serial woman beater is on that cover to sell magazines.
ESPN also has its top boxing analyst, Teddy Atlas, in Las Vegas to speak about the fight and analyze it throughout the week and to make appearances down the lengthy conga line of radio shows along Radio Row, a mini Super Bowl of talking heads. Why? Mayweather sells.
The “Outside the Lines” show ran on a Sunday morning, not exactly prime time in the sports world. Much of the week-long huckstering by ESPN, which has already included a lengthy interview by Stephen A. Smith, a knowledgeable guy and a fan of Mayweather’s boxing skills though not other parts of his lifestyle, will run in prime time. About the toughest question asked by Smith after spending seven hours with Mayweather was: “How much did this one cost, my man?” while walking through a garage filled with million dollar automobiles.
This does not make ESPN unique. Every media entity imaginable — from the Wall Street Journal to Al-Jazeera — is here. CBS’ Katie Couric, who admitted not knowing a left hook from a fish hook, visited Mayweather, interviewing him with the coquettish way she has at times. So did an ESPN reporter asking him along a rope line about his past problems with domestic violence. Mayweather’s response was to keep telling folks to tune in May 2 (at $100 a pop). Exactly what that visual was supposed to accomplish is difficult to fathom.
The point is this: if Floyd Mayweather, Jr. ran his private life in as disciplined a fashion as his public training he wouldn’t have the kind of problems ESPN found to be new news even though they were yesterday’s news. That he doesn’t is on him.
But no one, including ESPN, is here to fight domestic violence, unfortunately. They’re here for the same reason Mayweather is. They’re here for the money. That includes the state of Nevada and the city of Las Vegas, where rooms are going for $1,600 a night on the weekend and ringside seats for $140,000 on the scalper market (the suits call it the “secondary market” but they also call used cars pre-owned vehicles). It also includes ESPN, who will be among Mayweather’s business partners Friday night.
The funny thing about money is it often causes blindness to irony. The same network grilling a NSAC member about why it didn’t deny Mayweather a boxing license for committing disgraceful acts, accepts ads for his fight, does direct business with his company and airs a seemingly endless string of segments to promote it.
Wrap your head around those contradictions and you’ll have an idea what this week in Las Vegas is all about
http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/...spn_hypocritical_in_floyd_mayweather_coverage
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