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World Boxing Council (WBC) welterweight champion
Floyd Mayweather stands 5-8 and weighs 147 pounds. On March 30, at
the Citrus Bowl in Orlando, Florida, the flamboyant boxing champion
will take on a guy named Paul Wight, who stands 7-2 and weighs
around 400 pounds.
Whoa, do I hear the congregation
hollering “mismatch?”
Not really, considering that the
fight will take place inside a wrestling ring.
You read it right, Mayweather is
the latest boxer to make the foray into the grunt-and-groan
business. The line linking the two sports goes a long way back. The
first heavyweight boxing champion of the gloved era, John L.
Sullivan (1885-1892), once employed famed wrestler William Muldoon
as a trainer. Italian Primo Carnera, who held the heavyweight crown
from 1933 to 1934, became a wrestler after his boxing days were over
and once went unbeaten in 321 consecutive bouts. There have also
been numerous boxer vs. wrestler bouts over the years, the most
famous being the June 1976 showdown between boxer Muhammad Ali and
wrestler Antonio Inoki.
Mayweather’s mat debut figures
to be quite a dandy. It will take place in the ‘Super Bowl’ of
pro wrestling—Wrestlemania 24. The first Wrestlemania was held on
March 31, 1985 and saw Hulk Hogan (Terry Gene Bollea in real life)
and tag team partner Mr. T, beating the tandem of Paul Orndorff and
Roddy Piper. Wrestlemania 1 drew an estimated viewership of 400,000
and has since become the staple event of the World Wrestling
Entertainment (WWE).
Mayweather will be paid a
reported $20 million for the showdown with Wight, an astronomical
(and some say exaggerated) sum for a choreographed match. A native
of South Carolina, the 36-year-old Wight played basketball for
Wichita State University. He seemed headed for a career in football
when he was discovered by Hogan in a basketball game in 1995. Wight
made his debut for the World Championship Wrestling (WCW) in March
1995 under the moniker “The Giant.” In February 1999, he inked a
10-year contract with the WWE where he has since been popularly
known as ‘Big Show.’
Wight, who has quit smoking and
adopted a stricter diet to shed 100 pounds off his 530-pound frame,
relishes the chance of rubbing elbows with Mayweather.
“I weigh three times as much as
he does,” said Wight. “It’s not fair, but I’m a businessman
and I see an opportunity for business.”
WWE officials have been mum on
the rules that will be observed in the showdown. Will it be a boxing
match? A wrestling match? Some form of a hybrid?
Mayweather is leaving no stone
unturned. The boxing champ plans to train with Rey Mysterio, the
diminutive high-flying star of the WWE.
Mayweather actually got the show
rolling at the WWE pay-per-view event No Way Out on February 17,
when the boxer saved Mysterio from Big Show’s chokeslam.
Mayweather landed a couple of punches that seemed real, bloodying
Show’s nose.
“It’s entertainment,” said
Mayweather as he tried to downplay the incident. “You have a
chance to be just you and do what you want to do.”
Mayweather is being billed as the
villain in the fight. At a press conference in Los Angeles on
February 25 to promote Wrestlemania 24, ‘Pretty Boy’ taunted
fans by bragging endlessly about his ring accomplishments and the
ton of money he has bankrolled. To drive home his point, Mayweather
flashed wads of (real) cash which he eventually tossed to the crowd.
Mayweather has lately been
exploring activities outside boxing. After beating Oscar De La Hoya
last year in the richest fight in boxing history (the bout generated
a record pay-per-view revenue of $120 million), Mayweather took a
breather by taking part in ABC network’s reality show Dancing with
the Stars.
“I’m outside the box,” said
Mayweather. “Floyd Mayweather is not just a fighter, he’s an
entertainer. That’s the world must know.”
Mayweather will return to normal
mode in September, when he takes on De La Hoya in a rematch.
Interestingly enough, wrestling
insiders have it that De La Hoya was approached by the WWE about
getting involved in the Mayweather wrestling angle.
The Golden Boy declined the
offer.
For comments, the writer can be
reached at atty_eduardo@yahoo.com.
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