Time will tell if Floyd Mayweather Jr. has learned from his mistakes
Floyd Mayweather Jr. had been in trouble with the law
before, but the two months he spent in county jail in 2012 was his first real
stint behind bars. One can’t help but wonder if it will be his last.
He hasn’t exactly been contrite regarding his domestic
abuse conviction last year for the 2010 beating of Josie Harris, his
ex-girlfriend and the mother of their three children.
During a recent documentary promoting Mayweather’s
welterweight title defense Saturday against Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero at MGM
Grand in Las Vegas (on Showtime pay-per-view), Mayweather used phrases like “overexaggerated”
and “trumped up” when referring to the charges.
Not only did he spend two months in Clark County
Detention Center, his lawyers tried to get him out on house arrest, claiming
their client’s health was going to deteriorate because he was on 23-hour
lockdown, the jail said, to keep him away from the general population because
of his celebrity.
That had Ruben Guerrero, Robert’s father and trainer,
mocking Mayweather for doing his time in protective custody with “the snitches.”
Yet, when Mayweather, 36, was asked during a recent
conference call if the episode has changed him, he answered in a roundabout
way.
“Well, I mean, it just ... anybody should know, your
freedom is extremely important,” he said. “There’s nothing more important than
freedom. Once you lose your freedom, you understand that. Freedom is very, very
important.”
Mayweather didn’t even have a problem admitting he didn’t
want to do his time. He did so while talking about how much of a hypocrite he
believes Guerrero is for being a devout Christian who recently got arrested for
criminal gun possession at JFK Airport in New York City.
“... This guy is going through the airport with a gun and
then they were basically making jokes about me, making fun of me, talking about
that Floyd Mayweather couldn’t do his time,” he said.
“I could do my time, but who wants to lose their freedom?
There’s nothing cool about losing their freedom. Of course, I didn’t want to
lose my freedom.”
Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions, claims to
be good friends with Mayweather as Golden Boy has helped Mayweather promote his
past several fights, including Saturday’s. Schaefer is of the mind that
Mayweather’s incarceration is going to have the same effect on him that it had
on another great boxer.
Bernard Hopkins, at 48 still an active champion and one
of boxing’s all-time great stories, was convicted of several felonies when he
was 17 and spent nearly five years in prison.
“When Bernard Hopkins left prison, he vowed to change his
life and never go back, and he certainly has lived up to that,” Schaefer said. “I
think you will see the same here. The way Floyd talks about it, he always sort
of like comes back to that. Bernard, too. The time in prison still comes up
with him. I think it was definitely a life-changing moment for Floyd, as it was
for Bernard.”
Really? Well, Mayweather had a minor run-in with the law
just six weeks after his release from jail. Not that big a deal. A woman with
whom he has had past problems called police in August to say she had a verbal
altercation with Mayweather, and that Mayweather had fled with at least one of
her personal belongings, the Las Vegas Review Journal reported.
Her stuff was eventually returned and she did not press
charges. Still, has this two months in jail had enough of an effect to scare
Mayweather straight?
If he’s not taking responsibility for the reasons he went
to jail, is he just like an alcoholic who refuses to admit his problem? Perhaps
the two months behind bars weren’t enough to really get Mayweather’s attention.
Again, Hopkins spent almost five years in prison.
Hopkins’ take is interesting.
“Whether Floyd did two months in jail or 20 years, if you
are not used to going to jail, two months is like 20 years - believe it or not,”
Hopkins said Thursday. “I believe he had a chance to look at life a little
different, (rather) than being around somebody that might tell him what he
wants to hear. And I believe he had a chance to even soul-search himself ...
about things you can jeopardize and things that you can forfeit by putting
yourself in that position.
“Hey, listen, everybody don’t get a second chance.
Normally they reach the graveyard or 10 to 20 years in the penitentiary.”
Hopkins also believes Mayweather bringing his father back
into his corner as lead trainer for the first time in many years has
strengthened Mayweather’s family situation, which also helps. (Mayweather’s
uncle Roger, who had been the lead trainer, was replaced by Floyd Sr. because
the latter is in better health, Floyd Jr. said).
“I just think he grew up to a point where mentally he’s
saying, ‘There was too much that I was not really looking at seriously, and now
I have to,”’ Hopkins said.
“I think that he now knows that if he’s in a situation
where you have no control in your life, but others are controlling it for you,
that’s not a good feeling; I don’t care who you are.”
Schaefer goes so far as to suggest Mayweather is going to
do more than stay out of trouble. He thinks, like Hopkins, Mayweather will
become a role model.
“I believe,” Schaefer said, “that is exactly where Floyd
is headed.”
One thing is for sure: Mayweather did miss his family,
and that emotion can be a real motivating factor in keeping on the straight and
narrow.
“The only thing you can do when you’re locked up is just
do push-ups and read and write, write your fans and write to your loved ones,”
Mayweather said.
“That’s all I really did. So I think what I thought about
every day, I thought about my children. I thought about my family. Of course,
thought about my career, and I’m happy to be home.”
Time will tell if he’s home for good. (Source)
