HBO is televising tonight's fight. Seth Abraham, the president of HBO Sports, said Friday the terms have been agreed upon, and the final contract was being reviewed by Mayweather and his attorneys. That would cap a bizarre six months in which Mayweather initially turned down a multi-fight deal from HBO, fired his father as his manager and replaced him with rap music mogul James Prince, completely severed ties with his uncle, Jeff, and ultimately agreed to sign essentially the same deal he initially was offered. Controversy has swirled around the talented Mayweather, 22-0 with 17 knockouts, with newspapers around the country writing more about his boorish recent behavior than his immense talent. But Abraham said all has been forgiven and that he still expects Mayweather to evolve into a star.
People tend to look past that kind of attitude, unless it is unlawful.
There are no allegations here that Floyd has done anything wrong, just that he hasn't been the nicest guy in the world. Look at the popularity of a Dennis Rodman or a Mike Tyson. These are not model citizens, but the public doesn't seem to mind. In the public psyche, we like rogues, bad boys, outlaws, men and women with attitudes. It's not written anywhere that great athletes have to be sports heroes.