Is Floyd Mayweather Trying To Turn Face?

There’s a lot of buzz all over the internet today about the first episode of HBO’s Mayweather/Marquez 24-7, which aired Saturday night. It’s a funny thing with that series, particularly when it involves Floyd – I actually think the 24/7’s have been more eagerly anticipated than the Mayweather/Marquez fight itself.↵

↵↵What struck me about this first installment, and Floyd’s first appearance in the 24/7 limelight (dah ... lamplight? Was it me or was Roger Mayweather saying “lamplight” a lot?) since December of 2007, was that a lot of the typical Floyd flourishes were absent. There was still some swagger, and a few f-bombs dropped, but for the most part this was Money Lite, the family man, the community crusader.↵

↵↵In short, this was the game’s biggest (and best) heel trying to turn face.↵

↵↵I wonder if he can pull it off. There’s a general feeling out there in the boxing atmosphere that the Mayweather/Marquez promotion is in trouble. Some are wondering whether the move to put the fight on movie screens across the country is meant to deflect attention from what could possibly be less-than-optimal pay-per-view numbers. Given that situation, it seemed that the best thing the fight had going for it was the fact that a 24/7 was in the works, because in the past Floyd has been, well, straight-up money on that series. I opined that 24/7 had the potential to rescue the fight from its promotional doldrums, and the way I thought would make the most sense for a dedicated heel like Floyd is for him to start insulting Mexicans left and right.↵

↵↵It appears, however, as if he’s going a different direction with his performance, and I’m not sure it’s well-advised. Many times in the past, I’ve compared Floyd’s dedication to being the Fighter You Love to Hate to Ali’s early incarnation as The Louisville Lip. Floyd is admittedly not nearly as entertaining or gifted verbally as The Greatest (few are) but he has at least succeeded in being charismatic at the same time that he joyfully plays the bad guy, the guy who gets you to watch his fights in the hope that you see him get knocked out.↵

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↵↵But Floyd doesn’t have a chance in hell in seizing the Good Guy territory from Marquez. Whatever else you can say about the guy, Marquez makes for very bland television. He’s a family guy, he doesn’t speak any English, he’s somber and stonefaced and seemingly humorless. Great fighter, bad reality TV star.↵

↵↵One would expect Floyd to have a field day with such an opponent when the cameras were rolling, and yet instead what we’re getting is the roller-skating-with-my-daughter, handing-out-food-to-the-homeless, pep-talking-the-troubled-youth, I-am-actually-a-really-nice-guy narrative from Floyd.↵

↵↵The annoying thing is that I don’t think anyone will buy it. Floyd is still going to go into this fight as The Villain – he’s just done too much work Darth Vadering himself to this point to reverse it handing out a few chickens on the street. What’s more, he’s squandering perhaps his best opportunity to make this fight bigger than it is right now. My take is that the last thing Floyd, or boxing for that matter, needs right now is Good Floyd. You hear me, Darth Floyd? I know you’re in there. Go back to the Dark Side of the Force. It’s where you belong.↵

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