It's been nearly a month since we last heard the bombastic cacklings of Don King, whose vocal cords were working in overdrive as he did his best to convince the media that he was the key to making the highly-anticipated bout between Floyd Mayweathter and Manny Pacquiao a reality. Early last month, rumors were running rampant that King was on the verge of signing Floyd Mayweather to a 4-fight $100 million dollar promotional contract. The news was so convincing that Pacquiao himself released a statement encouraging the union of the two flamboyant figures in hopes that a November showdown could still be made. Since then, however, Don King has been extremely quiet on the matter, while Mayweather, who recently discovered the joys of Ustream.tv, had a lot to say about the Filipino icon, but absolutely nothing about working with the legendary promoter. In fact, while issuing an apology for recent deregotary statements he made about Pacquiao, Mayweather essentially put to rest the rumors about he and King working together.
"I want to say thank you to ESPN. Of course HBO, there's no network like HBO. And, I mean, what else can I say? Al Haymon, Leonard Ellerbe, ya'll have done a hell of a job," Mayweather stated as he tried to do damage control during a recent Ustream broadcast after making what many believed to be racist comments directed towards Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao. In what amounted to essentially a "shout out", Mayweather made it clear that he's perfectly content with the work that Al Haymon, his manager/adivser, and Leonard Ellerber, CEO of Mayweather Promotions, have been doing with his career. When the rumors first began, many writers speculatd that Mayweather was unhappy with certain members of his team, namely Haymon and Ellerbe, for what they believed to be the mishandling of negotiations for a showdown with Pacquiao. The theory was that Mayweather, fed up with the inability of Al Haymon and Leonard Ellerbe to get a deal done for the highly-anticipated clash, decided to seek out the help of Don King. After hearing the comments and praise for Haymon and Ellerbe in his latest broadcast, however, it's clear that Mayweather has no intention of parting ways with his current team, who he says is doing "a hell of a job."
Perhaps now, people can put to rest the rumors of a union between the two most boastful and flashy figures in the sport. "Mayweather Promotions is the past, the present and the future of sports and entertainment," Mayweather addded, reminding us that having his own promotional company gives him the luxury of not having to sign any contracts with other promoters when it's not necessary.