The sport of boxing had grown precipitously less popular each passing year since Mike Tyson lost to Buster Douglas in 1990. However, the Mayweather – Pacquiao fight grasped the interest of sports fans worldwide.
Mayweather’s past abuse of women seemed to fly under the radar of the hoopla and hype. If he were an NFL football star or an MLB elite player, his treatment would most likely be very different.
When the news of Ray Rice punching out his wife on an elevator was revealed to the world, he was excoriated, shamed, and kicked off his team. To the chagrin of anti-domestic violence groups, Ray’s wife Janay publicly defended her husband.
In 2001, Floyd’s documented court records state that he was in a heated argument about child support with the mother of his daughter, Melissa Brim, and he punched her in the face three times. He pleaded guilty on two counts of domestic violence and paid a $3,000 fine. He also served two days of house arrest, 48 hours of community service, and a six-month suspended jail sentence.
He was found guilty of two counts of battery in 2003 for hitting two female friends of Josie Harris, the mother to three other children that Mayweather fathered. The victims were Herneatha McGill and Karra Blackburn. He was given another six-month suspended jail sentence and assessed a $500 fine on both counts.
Again, in 2005, Harris told police that she had been punched, kicked, and dragged by her hair. Floyd was charged with felony battery, but Harris redacted her claims and he was found not guilty.
The famed boxer was arrested again for attacking Harris in 2010. He was accused of punching her and pulling her hair. He served two months in jail after pleading guilty.
His reward for this egregious misogynistic behavior will be a $150 to $200 million dollar prize to punch a man this time — Manny Pacquiao.