When Floyd Mayweather holds his press conference in New York later this month to announce his upcoming fight, he should be wary of any Jeremy Lin fans in attendance.
That might include Spike Lee or Chris Rock or any of the Knicks faithful, who didn’t appreciate @FloydMayweather tweeting of Lin, “all the hype is because he’s Asian.”
The backlash from that and subsequent tweets aimed at defending his point has prompted some unexpected sparring for Mayweather. He insisted his cause was noble.
“I’m speaking my mind in behalf of other NBA players. They’re programmed to be politically correct and will be penalized if they speak up,” he tweeted.
I’m sure Derek Fisher, Dwyane Wade and Deron Williams appreciate being called “programmed” after losing millions making a stand during the NBA lockout. Perhaps they’ll point out to Mayweather that black players who have put up the kind of numbers Lin did during his breakout week are all perennial All-Stars or in the Hall of Fame.
Fortunately for Mayweather, he is a boxer, perhaps the only profession that can benefit from tweeting something that would get most people suspended, fired or stigmatized as being a sexist or racist. In some ways, the timing couldn’t be better.
Mayweather and his rival, Manny Pacquiao, are set to launch the promotion of their respective upcoming fights. If they can’t compete in the ring, at least they’ll compete for attention and pay-per-view sales.
Pacquiao, who doesn’t do much tweeting, doesn’t fight Timothy Bradley until June 9 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. But he’ll be in New York on Thursday for a formal press conference to announce the start of ticket sales the following day.
Mayweather is fighting junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto on May 25 at the MGM Grand, but won’t have his New York presser until Feb. 28.
Given Cotto’s popularity in New York, you figure Mayweather would have heard more boos than cheers without the inflammatory tweet. Now after his tweet about Lin, let’s just say the welcome mat might be made of thorns.
Mayweather yearns to be loved. It’s buried behind his defiant exterior. But hating him works for his wallet if the controversy boosts pay-per-view sales. I’m sure Mayweather wasn’t thinking about all this when he tweeted what he did about Lin. But any publicity is usually good publicity when it’s time to promote a fight, as long as he doesn’t anger the wrong people.
Mayweather is planning to host a party during NBA All-Star weekend, but isn’t exactly on the Knicks’ VIP list these days. Plus, he’d be surrounded by three walls and bars if a judge hadn’t delayed the start of his 90-day jail sentence on domestic battery charges so the city could generate $100 million in economic revenue from his fight.
HBO announced yesterday it had the pay-per-view rights for Mayweather-Cotto, which came as no surprise. There also will be a 24/7 series that should show Mayweather raw and uncut. Don’t be surprised if he says something offensive.
There’s also plenty of time for tweeting between now and May 5.
* WBC heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (43-2, 40 KOs) of Kiev, Ukraine, defends his title against world-rated contender Dereck Chisora (15-3, 9 KOs) of London today in Munich, Germany.
Klitschko vs. Chisora kicks off the first of three heavyweight title fights, which will be broadcast live to the U.S. on three consecutive Saturdays, exclusively on EPIX. EpixHD.com will stream the fights live as part of a special free trial offer for boxing fans. The EPIX live telecast and the EpixHD.com live stream will begin at 4:30 p.m. ET / 1:30 p.m. PT. The fight can also be seen on the Times Square jumbotron.