Floyd Mayweather, Jr.: Leader, When the Black Community Needed Him Most

Professional boxer, multi-millionaire, strip club aficionado, abuser are all labels that come to mind in conversation about Floyd Mayweather, Jr. He recently competed in and won his fiftieth fight in his mega-fight against  UFC fighter Conor McGregor. The build-up to this fight was long, tumultuous, and at points embarrassing. It also took dark turns grabbing headlines as Conor McGregor referred to black women as “black bitches” as he gyrated on stage in Brooklyn. McGregor made condescending statements about Mayweather as well, saying things such as Mayweather “not being able to read” and telling him “dance for me boy” on several occasions. The word boy has always held a double meaning in the black community, which McGregor had no sensitivity to. The word boy, outside of the literal sense, has carried a negative connotation in the black community since the slave days when people outside of the community refer to grown men as “boys” because during the slave trade that’s what slaves were to white men “boys.” It was used as a term to lessen and degrade adult men. This not only turned some fans away from the fight completely but lead to a racial divide that few will acknowledge truthfully. McGregor representing the White/European community while Floyd Mayweather, Jr.  represented the Black community. Some fans will cite instances in low rent sports like WWE and say it was “all for entertainment” on social media sites to defend McGregor’s antics. As the promotional run continued, Floyd Mayweather, Jr. could have been unprofessional as he has been noted to be in the past, but instead the world saw a different, tight-lipped version of The Money Team CEO. He could have been the same man that stole Oscar De La Hoya’s luggage to get under his skin in 2007. He could have been the same man that promised to beat Diego Corrales “on behalf of battered women everywhere” in 2001. This promo run was different though for a man deemed “Pretty Boy” and “Money” throughout his illustrious career. This promo run for what should be his last fight showed the world Floyd Mayweather, Jr.; the professional boxer and mature leader. This version of a seasoned, more mature forty year old Floyd Mayweather, Jr. could not have arrived at a better time and the date of the fight with racial undertones could not have occurred at a more appropriate time.

The fight came and went although McGregor gave Mayweather, Jr.  way more competition than most pundits expected, but the expected result occurred with Floyd  Mayweather, Jr.  putting on a clinic and winning in the tenth round via Technical Knockout (TKO). This of course set off a frenzy on social media as many black Twitter users & the Boxing world celebrated the spectacle we all witnessed, salty  McGregor supporters spat out racial epithets left and right and claims of the fight being rigged were shown all over social media due to the official stopping the fight before McGregor officially being knocked out. The refusal to accept the results of the fight that clearly played out before their eyes is equitable to the fight that took place in Charlottesville, SC, just days prior. In the days leading up to the fight, a Neo-Nazi/white supremacist rally took place in Charlottesville, SC. Members of the community, mostly white male, gathered on University of Virginia campus in protest that they “would not be silenced” and that they were the ones truly being oppressed. Militarized men moved along the Virginia streets gearing up for a “race war” that was fought and lost by the South in the 1865 Civil War. There were also scenes reminiscent of the 1960’s where minority counter-protestors were being beaten in the streets and receiving little to no help from local police department that deemed the situation too dangerous for them to be a part of. This was not the 1960’s though, but a new age, where testosterone filled white men feel  empowered by the new leadership of the United States President Donald Trump. McGregor embodies a lot of traits that got Trump in office: arrogant, confident, disrespectful, and most importantly, delusional about what was coming next. That is why the reactions to the fight seemed appropriate. In this new era, instead of the use of logic to explain why something did not go ones way, people turn to social media to make excuses for the person we support and be disrespectful to those who have different views than our own.

The result of TKO is a perfect representation of the real life race war that has been fought by the African-American community for hundreds of years. The Civil Rights Movement broke down barriers for racial equality, but the reality is there is still a lot of work to be done before there is truly a post-racial society. The state of the African-American in America feels a lot like winning via TKO. Do black people have freedom and liberty? Yes. Do we have Civil Rights after years of not having them? Yes. Is there more representation in higher up positon whether it be politics or the business world? Yes. Are there many other barriers black people face to be successful in certain job industries; definitely. Until certain laws are revised and racist bigots are removed from leadership roles instead of being championed for being “different” or “vocal,” the fight for racial equality for blacks and other minorities will always be the same old TKO instead of a knockout.

The protestors in Charlottesville were quoted saying that they were “gearing up for a race war,” but unbeknownst to their knowledge, the first battle took place in the late hours of Saturday, August 26, 2017, and was won by a more professional Floyd Mayweather, Jr. representing the African-American community. Floyd Mayweather is in no way a perfect role model for children, but when the African-American community needed him most, Floyd Mayweather was the indirect leader that we needed.

 On my Honor Word Count: 990

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