HBO's award-winning franchise "24/7" is an "all-access, behind-the-scenes pass that allows viewers to step into the lives of the fighters before they step into the ring." Last night, the latest installment, 24/7 Mayweather/Ortiz, debuted as both undefeated pound-for-pound champion Floyd Mayweather and WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz prepare for their September 17 showdown. No stranger to having cameras following him around, Mayweather is making his 5th appearance on the series. You would think that there's not much more you can learn about his larger-than-life personality during the lead-up to a fight, but a disturbing confrontation with his father, caught on video by the 24/7 camera crew, makes you wonder if HBO is more interested in getting ratings from a dysnfunctional family than promoting the upcoming fight.
A good portion of the episode served as a backdrop to introduce viewers to Victor Ortiz, as well as the hardships and perserverance he endured, throughout his life and career, which got him to what will no doubt be the biggest and most important fight of his career thus far. Unfortunately, all of that was overshadowed in the last 5 minutes of the episode, which HBO decided to dedicate to a heated argument that occurred between Floyd Mayweather and his father, Floyd Mayweather Sr. What started off as typical jabbing at each other quickly dissolved into a verbal altercation that may have left father and son more estranged than ever before.
Although the narrator made it sound as if the "rehtorical duel" started off due to a debate they were having about "a pair of opposing female boxers", it's unclear as to what exactly made the "amusing and innocuous repartee" (as HBO called it) turn ugly as the editing simply cut to Floyd Mayweather emphatically stating, "Our training camp is fine. We are okay!" From there, the conversation quickly spiraled out of control as Mayweather Sr. appeared to be looking for acknowledgement that he deserved credit for his son's success, while Floyd, getting more and more irritated, was unwilling to give it to him. "You were undefeated when you started with your daddy," Mayweather Sr. would point out. "You can't train nobody when you locked up," Floyd would fire back. From that point on, it got extremely ugly as Floyd took it to another level whit comments like:
"Don't nobody wanna be with you. De La Hoya left you. De La Hoya don't wanna be with you. Hatton don't wanna be with you. Don't no fighter wanna be with you."
"Roger's my trainer. Roger made me."
"We don't want nobody in our way interfering while we working. Get out of our way. This is our gym, get out of our way."
At one point, the argument became extremely disturbing to watch as it looked as though father and son were nearly ready to come to blows as the cameras continued to roll while children could be heard crying in the background. "You ain't gonna do shit to me," Floyd shouted. "Motherfucker, you put your hands on me? You better not fuck with me motherfucker. Come on," Mayweather Sr. shouted back. "Come put me out your motherfucker gym, punk. Put me out motherfucker. I'll beat your motherfuckin' ass. 41-1," he continued. Floyd would shout back, "You couldn't fight worth shit. You weren't nothing but a motherfuckin' cab driver...bum as trainer. You weren't shit as a fighter, so how you gonna be something as a trainer. Get the fuck out my gym faggot!"
It was a sad moment to witness as the father and son relationship unraveled before our eyes. As Mayweather Sr. left the gym with a look as if he was truly shocked and hurt by the encounter, the episode would end with one more parting shot from Floyd. "Roger Mayweather made the Mayweather name and I took it to the next level. When it's all said and done, there's only two motherfuckin Mayweather that count, Roger Mayweather and Floyd Mayweather. And motherfucker, I'm not no junior," he stated before the 24/7 theme music began to play.
Although the initial concept of "24/7" was to help promote HBO's pay-per-view fights and entice viewers to purchase them, it's clear that there's been a drastic change in goals. While it's true that controversy sells, at what point does a network cross the line when it comes to promoting fights or getting ratings. Exactly what purpose did airing that argument between Floyd and his father serve in helping with the promotion of the event? No doubt, detractors of Mayweather will take delight in seeing the argument, as Steve Kim of Maxboxing.com tweeted, "I keep re-watching this argument, I mean, it's the best fight Floyd Mayweather Jr has ever been involved in." In my opinion, the airing of the argument could do more harm than good for the event, so again, I have to ask, did HBO cross the line in airing the argument between Mayweather father and son?
Feel free to email me your thoughts at fstrunk@fighthype.com.