Deemed the “Fight of the Century’, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao took to the ring this past weekend to box in one of the most anticipated fights of our time.
The winner – inevitably Mayweather – took home a whopping $180 million dollars. That’s quite the pay out.
But here’s an underlying story to the so-called ‘Fight of the Century’ – the story of Mayweather’s well-documented history of domestic violence. According to CNN, Mayweather has had at least seven assaults against five different women. One specific occasion in 2001, Mayweather is said to have hit the mother of his children in the face with a car door just before punching her in the face a few more times. This assault, as well as the others, have resulted in citations and small jail time done – but nothing to keep the issue from arising again.
Mayweather has been questioned about his history of violence on several occasions but his mantra seems to be ‘No pictures, no proof.’
So why might this be the underlying story to the ‘fight of the century?’ Well, here is Floyd Mayweather attracting more media attention that he’s ever received. After winning the fight, he has now been named the highest paid sportsman of the world. And he’ll likely continue on a whirlwind of a media tour including perks that one can only imagine.
But what difference does this make? Well, this sets the scene for an indifference within the realm of domestic abuse. The hype of a man who receives money for every punch he throws is now far outweighing the abuse of these women. Again, these cases can be forgiven. But should the media not take the time to acknowledge the history of violence. Is it not a good time to educate? There are people who will now look up to a ‘man’ not worthy of such respect.
Indifference is a scary realm to be in.