The art of boxing has one main principle: to hit and not be
hit. No one does that
better than ‘pound for pound’ king Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Most fight fans enjoy watching brawls where ring warriors
collide. Gatti vs. Ward, Barrera vs. Morales, Holyfield vs. Bowe are fights that are forever in the minds of
fight fans. Mayweather does not provide this type of
action. Rather, he
demonstrates how boxing is an art by dictating fights with his skill
and will and painting a picture that he wants to paint. Nostrils shed blood, eyes close,
lips swell, ribs turn purple, and opponents are dizzied as Mayweather dances around them while firing off
shots. Many believed things
would be different on November 4, 2006.
The Mandalay Bay events centre in Las Vegas, Nevada, was filled with people
eager to see Mayweather go through his
biggest test. Stars such as
Denzel Washington, Pete Rose, Tiger Woods,
and Charles Barkley were in attendance to see ‘Pretty Boy
Floyd’ Mayweather fight Carlos ‘Tata’ Baldomir in a
night titled “Pretty Risky.” But was it as dangerous for Mayweather as some thought?
Baldomir had stormed the boxing
world in January when he defeated Zab Judah in Judah’s hometown of New York City. ‘Tata’
was hand-picked to be a stepping-stone for Judah prior to his big match up
with Mayweather. Cocky and unprepared, Judah barely trained for the
fight and was knocked around for the last half of it. Wobbled, tired and frustrated, Judah fought a man who knew he
would not get a second chance and who would make the best of the
opportunity presented to him.
Baldomir’s hand was raised and Judah was stripped of all his
belts making ‘Tata’ the
Undisputed Welterweight (147 lb.) Champion.
In came Don King, Judah’s promoter, who
boxing writer Hugh McIlvaney calls a
“hawk disguised in peacock feathers,” to strip Baldomir of two of his three newly earned titles on
a legal technicality. Mayweather fought Judah for Baldomir’s
newly won championship in April and easily won a twelve round
decision. Later, in summer
2006, Baldomir made the first defense of his
title in Atlantic City against boxing’s
‘blood and guts warrior’ Arturo ‘Thunder’ Gatti. Gatti, the favourite, was
toppled by Baldomir’s relentless
assault. Mayweather performed similarly against Gatti the summer before. With two common opponents, and
both men being champions in the welterweight division, it was only
natural that ‘Tata’ and
‘Pretty Boy Floyd’ would battle.
Both men come from different parts of the
world and from different backgrounds. Mayweather
is from the U.S and Baldomir is from Argentina. Mayweather,
a three time Golden Glove champion and bronze
medalist in the 1996 Olympics was raised in the gym and groomed to be a
boxer. Baldomir,
a tough hood from the streets of Santa Fe, traveled the world
fighting as a journeyman while earning very little money.
Undefeated in eight years and not receiving
fruits for his labor, Baldomir gave up on
boxing and sold feather dusters on the streets up until a year ago when
he got the call to fight Judah. Mayweather,
a flashy, confident champion who drives himself to fights in his
Ferrari, has not lost a fight in thirty-six bouts. HBO commentator Jim Lampley talks of Baldomir
when saying, “You could hit him in the head with a sledgehammer
and you won’t knock him out.” The ever-confident Mayweather says, “Thirty-six fighters have
tried and all have failed.”
Number thirty-seven entered the ring on November 4, 2006. The humble champion
dreamed of being the millennium’s Cinderella Man. ‘Tata’
had turned in his feather dusters for the WBC championship and RING
magazine’s official belt.
A rags-to-riches hero in Argentina, Baldomir
was seen by Mayweather as another step in his
ladder to greatness.
With his pink gloves and matching shorts made
of ostrich leather, Mayweather smiled as he
started his dance that no fighter to date has been able to keep up
with. Ducking, slipping and
pivoting was Mayweather as Baldomir attacked. Mayweather
countered with uppercuts and kept Baldomir at
bay with neck-snapping jabs and would then disappear before Baldomir’s eyes. This was the fight that was to
be “pretty risky.”
For twelve rounds Mayweather fought
his fight. Baldomir landed the odd punch to the head and some
to the body, but he could not find his target that night. As he tried to cut off the ring
and pin Mayweather against the ropes his
attacks would be neutralized.
Disappointed, defeated and bruised, one judge gave Baldomir two rounds. The remaining judges saw the
fight a shut out. “He
was too fast. I
couldn’t catch him… I felt sluggish… he showed
he’s the pound for pound best,” said Baldomir
after the fight.
Many fans left the arena as they found the
bout to be boring. One man
attacking and missing while being bombed in return is not seen as
entertaining. People must
remember that boxing is not a street fight, it’s a
discipline. Most want to
see brutality while Mayweather lives up to
his name by making the sport pretty.
