Why Floyd Mayweather and Winky Wright are wrong in their claims that HBO Boxing is racist

Posted on | July 9, 2008 | 1 Comment

By: Matt Yanofsky

Floyd Mayweather and Winky Wright are both future hall of famers because of their success in the ring. However, their claims that HBO’s broadcasters are racist against black fighters are false. Mayweather and Wright should be ashamed for making such remarks about the top network for boxing, which both of them had plenty of appearances on. While Mayweather and Wright are both great fighters, neither have a valid case that HBO’s choice of which fighters they air as well as their comments about certain fighters are racially motivated.

On the contrary to Mayweather’s and Wright’s statements, HBO has aired and praised plenty of black fighters over the years. Five of Andre Berto’s fights since 2006, with none of them coming against top tier opposition have been aired by the network. Former undisputed middleweight champion Jermain Taylor has been fighting exclusively (including HBO PPV) for them since 2004 and is scheduled to have his next bout there, even after losing his last two contests. Prior to that, the network helped build the career of boxing legend Roy Jones Jr and aired numerous Bernard Hopkins fights, regardless of how painful Hopkins’ style was to watch. In addition to those fighters being fixtures on the network, HBO has aired WBC heavyweight champion Samuel Peter, IBF light heavyweight champion Antonio Tarver, former champions Glen Johnson, Kassim Ouma, Zab Judah (who will fight on HBO August 2nd vs Joshua Clottey) and Cory Spinks (who is as brutally boring of a fighter as they come) multiple times over the last few years.

The real problem at hand with Mayweather and Wright may be jealousy as well as personality issues. “They talk about Kelly Pavlik, a white fighter, like he’s the second coming. Or they go crazy over Manny Pacquiao. But I’m a black fighter”. “Is it racial? Absolutely. They praise white fighters; they praise Hispanic fighters, whatever. But black fighters, they never praise”, Mayweather said recently when he made his claim of HBO’s racism. The reason HBO praises Pacquiao and Pavlik so highly is because they bring two things to the airwaves Mayweather didn’t, excitement and class.

Pacquiao and Pavlik are each heavy handed fighters who are always in entertaining scraps. Most of Mayweather as well as Wright’s fights have been snoozers in fact, only two of Wright’s fights since 1999 have ended via knockout, while the Pretty Boy’s last 5 bouts weren’t exactly fight of the year material. While neither fighter is currently as well known nationally as Mayweather, Pacquiao has been a major star over the last few years and Pavlik is quickly becoming the face of boxing in America. Although Pavlik is rapidly raising in popularity as well as on pound for pound lists, he has not let that blow his head up the same way it did to well, Floyd Mayweather.

Winky Wright’s case is a little different then that of Mayweather’s. Wright as I previously mentioned is a sure shot hall of famer however, that doesn’t mean there is a major public demand to see him fight. Following his dreadfully boring July 2007 loss to Bernard Hopkins, Wright has priced himself out of a ton of fights, including a date with Kelly Pavlik, which he would have had a decent shot of winning. Prior to that in 2006, Wright demanded a 50-50 split or $5 million purse in order for him to go forward with a rematch of his draw with then middleweight kingpin Jermain Taylor. Aside from it being nearly impossible to get an even split with a champion to begin with, Wright’s case was even tougher due to the fact that Jermain was the one who filled up the arena in Memphis for their June 2006 contest, not Wright.

This past March, I met Kelly Pavlik at a press conference in New York and he took the time to speak with all members of the media. Kelly was extremely friendly and gave genuine answers to his questions while having a smile on his face. Pavlik is praised and has been a quick success because is a humble superstar who flashes his power punching and personality, not his platinum jewelry or stack of $100 bills. In fact, Pavlik still lives in the same city he grew up in of Youngstown, Ohio and is still a member of that tight knit community where he is beloved.

Manny Pacquiao is a national hero in his home country of the Philippines and has given back to his loyal fans instead of thinking he is too good for them. Even at a time where the country is struggling and there is a ton of more money to be made elsewhere due to ticket prices and casinos paying hefty site fees, Pacquiao has fought twice in the Philippines since 2004. During those two fights just about everything in the country literarily stopped operating to watch him as he battled 3K Battery in 2004 and Oscar Larios in 2006. People who didn’t even have money for tickets traveled from around the country just to greet their beloved icon as he walked into the arena.

In the era where boxing on over the air television is non existent, HBO has dominated the business by hosting the best fights as well as having some of the best broadcasters around. Before Mayweather and Winky think they are “Wright” (right), they should look at all the facts and not let their jealousy of other fighters appraisal lead to them making further foolish statements.

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