Floyd Mayweather says NFL was too hard on Ray Rice

Floyd Mayweather believes the NFL was “overly influenced” by the video that emerged Monday of Ray Rice assaulting then-fiance Janay Palmer, saying the league should have kept the running back’s suspension at two games.

Speaking in Las Vegas ahead of his fight against Marcos Maidana, Mayweather offered his opinion on Rice’s suspension by saying the league “overreacted” based on surveillance footage from the elevator in Atlantic City.

“I think there’s a lot worse things that go on in other people’s households, also,” Mayweather said. “It’s just not caught on video, if that’s safe to say.”

Mayweather was arrested and served two months in prison in 2012 stemming from a domestic violence charge in which the boxer attacked his former girlfriend in front of their children. He maintains he was innocent of those charges and last week was cited in a separate civil case by Shantel Jackson, an ex-fiancee who claims Mayweather assaulted her and prevented her from leaving his Las Vegas mansion.

During his media session Tuesday, Mayweather claims a lack of evidence supports his version of events.

“Like I’ve said in the past, no bumps, no bruises, no nothing,” Mayweather said. “With O.J. and Nicole, you’ve seen pictures. With Chris Brown and Rihanna, you’ve seen pictures. With (Chad) Ochocinco and Evelyn, you’ e seen pictures. You guys have yet to see any pictures of a battered woman, a woman who says she was kicked and beaten (by Mayweather). So I just live my life and try to stay positive, and try to become a better person each and every day.”

Rice has been indefinitely suspended by the NFL and released by the Baltimore Ravens as a result of his assault, while commissioner Roger Goodell said the running back was “ambiguous about what actually happened,” which led to the revised suspension.