Richard Sherman: The Unspoken Words

Richard Sherman’s timeline is our shared and gory truth about race, a truth that no amount of time will eradicate.  You cannot wash it out with political correctness and you cannot shame it into nonexistence so corporations can keep printing money, cynically it just “is”.  Some of the most thoughtful and intelligent black voices have had their say and they have the platform to do so.  However, because of that platform, they can only say so much and Rockefeller education will never give them the full spectrum of enlightenment and bravery that Malcolm X had.

He said it plain.

To “say it plain” is not fruitful, and it requires a willingness to abandon the niceties and eloquence in which many have placed a high priority. When trying to trying to dispel a stereotype we have to accept that those who place them on us and those who contribute to our livelihoods are one and the same. Our history makes this impossible, and the sheer numbers suggest that only 13% of the population at minimum will even bother to hear Richard Sherman out. Being well spoken is now more important than being succinct and to the point, it’s as if the whole of black folks in sports have set out to prove in the next week they all are more than just “thugs”.  Richard Sherman did screw up, but he screwed up in ways much more practically hurtful to black players than the hyper sensitive, ineffectual racists on Twitter.

Indirectly he messed with another Black Man’s Money

There was a sports media type who “favored anarchy” and WWE styled trash talk who (giddily) said that the post-game interview would end up as a “remember when” watershed moment.  Plainly, that means more brotha’s clowning brotha’s after games, in a league that does everything in its power to avoiding paying them.  Sherman may be the best, but ask Derelle Revis how long that ride may last at a fast twitch position like Cornerback.  The truth is once a brotha sits down with the organization to try and “cash out” on his second deal most organizations are armed with everything from advanced metrics to reports from private investigators.  Sherman’s judgment of a fellow union member’s performance on TV should not be tolerated  because he is opening a Pandora’s Box to a pack of wolves. 

The organization is always trying to get a brotha for as little as possible; hence, the reason ultra-white Bill Simmons makes no qualms about vilifying Rudy Gay for having a “bad contract”.  He can use his platform with impunity with no regard for Gay’s wife or family when ESPN is legendary for prohibiting media on media crime. If there is a person at ESPN who thinks he is overrated we will never hear about it, must be nice.  Crabtree is Sherman’s brother in the very sense that one day soon they will both be treated like pieces of meat, by calling him “mediocre” he spoke on the man’s contract.  To say what he said about a fellow piece of meat in such descriptive market based terminology is a crime because it will be used in the future if the 49’ers decide they want to “go in another direction” or lowball him.

Fans already dehumanize Football players with fantasy football and other coping mechanisms, now the black players can use language to lower one another’s market value after a bad play?  What if it were a poorly thrown ball by a white Quarterback?  would Sherman be so willing to affect that man’s ability to make a living?.  If you’re an adult you know that there are professional jealousies and brutal language on and off the field but once it bleeds onto microphones it can affect a man’s bottom line.  If commentators and coaches evaluate and find a player mediocre that information will reveal itself but adding post-game interviews to the process is too much like the social Darwinism that makes “us” an ugly reflection of the dominant culture.

Moreover, it lends to the growing stereotype that blacks (for lack of ethics and racial identity) have no problem destroying other blacks for a buck-Hip Hop is built on that ratchet shit.  The “him or me” mentality is evidence of a people with a strong identity based on scarcity and “not enoughness” masquerading as competition.  White folks don’t suffer from crab in the barrel syndrome because they are the barrel. Peyton Manning vanquished a man who dogged him for the better part of his career but he handled it the way someone who assumes prosperity for all (of his kind) does.

“I TOLD YA’LL HE AINT A BETTER QB THAN ME!  DUDE WAS BOUT THAT SYSTEM, SPYGATE WHAT!  NOW CUE THAT WACK AS IM THE MAN SONG!!”

The emphasis on Sherman’s education “is” a poor reflection on us

Stop talking about Stanford, because it makes you sound historically and politically naive.  Places like Stanford are renowned for high IQ’s but a lot of those high IQ’s (Prof. Stephan Schneider) are enlisted in think tanks who propagandize global initiatives (Agenda 21) that negatively affect poor people who aren’t 6’3 and run a 4.4 40.  Our greatest institutions have produced some of the biggest thugs ever to walk the face of the earth and under white supremacy it is all legal. One should never forget that Sherman comes from a place that highly educated people thought it was cool to dump crack while defunding programs that produced strong children.

When black folks point to education in the face of racism what they convey is “I should be exempt” much like the stars and media types who have to suffer the inconvenience of being treated like a brotha by traffic cops once a year.  Stanford will not exempt you, and when you hold it up as a shield, you further isolate those who are far more vulnerable than an athlete or Harvard Professor like Henry Louis Gates.  You separate yourself from the people who truly risk themselves in times of struggle because intellectuals never do.  Muhammad Ali could barely write and he often defended himself in a way that was unapologetically black.  Too many blacks in media legitimize themselves through association with the dominant cultures institutions when the truth in combating racism is asserting ones value from their day of birth.  The ability to assimilate within the dominant culture is not a virtue; it is a survival tactic we have mastered.

No matter where you went to school if you go Busta Rhymes in the white ladies face she’s going to recoil plain and simple, and guess what?  It’s her problem not yours.  Should we discuss the media being all up in a brotha’s face right after a game?  Sure, but do not plan on winning that one, because if you’re from Stanford you know the media is a major contributor to the revenue generated from football.

The latent venom from white fans aint going away

A lot of white football fans where the chafe to a brotha’s wheat in high school football and basketball.  However, a lot of them love the game more than they hate the brotha who put them on the bench back in the day, so now they consume it irrationally.  When you are addicted to a sport where you do not see yourself and you are the financial engine of that sport you passively want those brotha’s to make you feel better about your sickness.  You want to believe you can control them that your words and character attacks actually hurt, your only release is the occasional controversy, or when a player goes broke so the inner racist is can to run wild.

 Fans are vicious at games because they drink, but they are also vicious because they love people they would not normally give a shit about in real life.  They are vicious because they cannot stop paying black men who make them sick, that “junkie’s remorse” puts them on edge with few opportunities for relief.  Black players like Richard Sherman should know this, especially in markets like Seattle and Minnesota where racial coding on sports radio is the accepted native tongue.  Thug “is” code for Nigger, but I am happy to live in a world where white folks have to take the emasculating path of cryptic language and “tweets” because my grandmother didn’t.

In her day, the word came from men who had lives, resources, and power not the mouth breathers who attack Sherman on Twitter.  Those same losers who call him a nigger on Twitter will tune in next Sunday to help the ratings soar just as they do when Mayweather fights some handpicked bum.  There was a time in this country when black arrogance led to white violence, many died when Jack Johnson was whooping ass in 1909- now the descendants of that white trash must “tweet”.  These “men” will continue to contribute to creating an uber class of black men who will send children to Ivy League institutions to become real legal thugs who may run for office on day.  They will also continue to make bullshit Hip Hop and 250$ headphones billion dollar industries, because despite hating you they cannot be cool without you.

What is unspoken is those same people who call Sherman a Nigger are most likely consumers, and if you are a consumer, you can say whatever you like because economically there are no ethnic or territorial lines.

In Economics, the Buyer is always the Nigger.

PART 2 COMING NEXT WEEK

Adrien Broner: Will April Bring Bravado or Courage?

The way we felt about it wasn’t "normal", it happens only a few times in the sport of boxing with the last occurrence in 2001 when Marco Antonio Barrera exposed Naseem Hamed as an HBO construction. Boxing is emotional, and the way we respond to fighters is the most visceral in sports, even more raw than Football because fighters are more psychologically accessible. We root for football players, but we can’t see ourselves in any of them; in fact we can’t see them at all. But Boxers are shirtless, and many of them aren’t as big as we are so in some way their personalities are more important to us than Football players who are encouraged to spew clichés in accordance with the corporate behemoth they represent. Football players rarely evoke hatred and though we love them it isn’t as personal as our love for boxers- which is why their mortality reminds us of our own. Few fighters have courted hatred in such a misguided, uninformed and unproductive way as Adrien Broner and I fear that he isn’t finished going down this path.

I don’t have to itemize the many things that led to that as whipping last month, the reasons are many and varied- I can only touch on the two driving expressions that he seems to struggle with inside. Bravado and Courage, both are distinct within themselves and yet somehow when one lacks character the former is easily mistaken for the later. Broner and his following grow up around Bravado and see it as a laudable characteristic, they even see it rewarded in industries like Hip Hop and the drug game. Many young black men cultivate Bravado to cope with an upbringing without men and the results have led to men who primp, preen and talk about material goods- ironically both characteristics were associated with women 50 years ago. Broner latched on to someone else’s marketing formula through lack of character and courage, it takes a brave person to be themselves and stand on their own merit but when you lack an authentic personality this is foreign to you. Broner has every reason to be arrogant about his level of talent but Floyd Mayweathers Bravado was rooted in a maniacal work ethic and resume -the courage came later when he rejected the price HBO (AKA “Boxing”) tried to put on his services.

Bravado or “Swag” is easy to perpetuate when you are fed a steady diet of mismatches and assumptions but courage is the ability to recognize that like a baby your food is being puréed for you. Marcos Maidana at the very least could understand that Broner would brag in the lead up to the fight but what Broner showed instead (low character) must have made him sleep like a baby. Maidana had already showed courage in victory and defeat, Broner didn’t even know he was being commended for having the courage to step in with the Argentinian in the first place. He was too busy showing bravado; he was too busy blustering about an easy fight to take much deserved credit for taking a hard one. When he simulated humping Maidana the gesture backfired with the same folks he wasted so much time trying to impress- because real thugs don’t act like that when it’s time to fight. Broner was so focused on humiliating Maidana (as with previous opponents) he couldn’t be bothered with putting his hands on him enough to win. Bravado is an impediment to “appropriate fear”, the kind of fear that is the driving fuel behind some of Boxing’s greatest performances.

Had Floyd Mayweather stood in front of Diego Corrales (in 2001) mugging and showing off for friends he might not be sharp and coherent enough to be the “face of boxing” in 2013.

That is why Maidana’s initial attack was so devastating, the shock on Broner’s face said it all; he’d only prepared himself mentally to show how much “swag” he had, when did he anticipate having to display courage? One never knows. Al Haymon and Floyd Mayweather can’t give you character, and Band Camp rappers are never obligated to take hard punches to the face- their services can strictly be filed under “bravado management”-an abstract. Even when showing courage Broner let his bravado keep him from laying it all on the line, he never faught to win in the middle rounds, he merely faught to save the face bravado created. His punch output was still low, and he was still “too cool for school” for a man in the ring with someone who is trying to kill him. Ali used bravado to win “round one” against Foreman but he’d long mastered his fears which allowed him to show courage when Big George unloaded on him against the ropes. Without substance bravado is eventually going to be tested, even Joe Frazier understood that he may have dusted Ali off and shut his mouth for an evening in 71’ but Ali’s courage guaranteed he’d see him again.

Courage is taking vulnerable moments and viewing them as opportunities

Opportunity that even his idol has never enjoyed- the chance to bond yourself on a deeper level with fans through defeat. Floyd Mayweather is an outlier due to his elite matchmaking talents post Top Rank, but the one thing he can’t afford is what Sugar Ray Leonard paid for in blood. Leonard is beloved for his conduct in and out of the ring in the first Duran fight; the last years ESPN Documentary about the two  fights only solidified the Sugar Ray myth. How he dealt with challenge and loss is something we can all relate to, Broner had an opportunity to join us (as Prince would say) “in this thing called life”-  and all he needed in that moment was a little courage. The door was open, and he could have secured Latin fans that wouldn’t just tune in out of hate but respect as they did with Shane Mosley. He couldn’t do it, and believe it or not that weakness to Bravado will make him a cinch to get KO’d if he’s ever challenged again. Bravado is rooted in delusion; the guy who makes the most noise about his “bitches” is probably the guy wounded the most by a past girlfriend- and in circles like Broner's this isn’t OK. If you can’t “feel” then you can’t get your mind right enough to overcome, and if you’re going to the club on the same night how do you find the mirror required for real transcendence?.

Broner recently stated that he would continue “as if nothing ever happened” as his mentor sits idly by endorsing the self-defeating bravado. Boys continue on as if nothing ever happened, narcissistic children simply change venues when things require courage- now that he has his rematch in April what will be different?. Sugar Ray Leonard KNEW something happened to him in Montreal, he also had the courage to be away from people who would lie to him about it. Boys full of bravado never get a real "sense of the room", which is why Broner’s antics always seemed to fall lame on the public. Leonard knew if he dealt with the loss accurately he’d come back from a place of courage and not the denial exhibited by Broner.

He's now going back to Maidana and I'm not sure he's done any self reflection. In the next fight he has to shut his mouth because there are no words that can save him from what we saw, and the only way to fix it requires a great deal of courage. This is not about money, and Floyd is no position (having avoided a prime Pacquiao) to tell Broner his payday and infamy can somehow make it easy to fool the man who beat him down. In fact when (and if) Broner subscribes to this empty course he isn’t hurting nor fooling Maidana, he’s ducking and lying the most important foe he’ll ever face….himself.

Timothy Bradley: The Time is NOW to become Mayweather Foil

In a recent interview Larry Merchant gave to Chris Robinson (follow @hustle boss) the veteran Boxing scion theorized Tim Bradley possibly becoming a future opponent for Floyd Mayweather Jr. Currently Mr. Bradley is waiting on that call from Manny Pacquiao to finish a little business in 2014 but Merchant believes the WBA Welterweight Champ could possibly challenge the current trade sanctions levied on Boxing fans by Monopolistic promoters- you call it a “Cold War”. I call it Bullshit. The truth is Bradley, like any other “precedent” case looks good enough on paper to force the hands of “Boxing” because he isn’t in debt to Bob Arum or the IRS. I’m going to venture to say that Arum owns Manny’s ass like King once owned Tyson and he will fight out his days as a deterrent to big fights as opposed to being a maker of such fights-enter the uber credible Tim Bradley. What Merchant didn’t do is make the itemized list of “things” Bradley would have to execute besides buying one house and one car to elicit the ire and interest of Floyd Mayweather, which is where I come in.

‘Positioning” in the marketplace is hard when you don’t have the benefit of a built in ethnic fan base, even the great Mayweather requires foes to bring fans when he’s supposed to be the face of boxing. Why else does Amir Khan merit discussion? And why else would Golden Boy be prudent to keep Danny Garcia in the Barclays Center for the foreseeable future? Bradley is suffering from the oldest of maladies and it can be traced back as far as Charley Burley and Marvin Hagler. He’s going to have to make himself worth the risk to a fighter who resembles Jack Johnson in his propensity to profit from tribal passions in Floyd Mayweather and it can’t be done without planning. As of now on a mainstream level he’s seen as “that guy who didn’t beat Manny Pacquiao” and he has to change that perception before setting out on the Mayweather campaign. Yes, I said campaign and campaigns require more than a few well-placed quotes here and there. Here is the blueprint for making Tim Bradley a candidate for a super fight with Mayweather beyond his sterling resume.

#1 beat the Breaks off of Manny Pacquiao

A tall order if Manny turns in a 6 week camp, but if it turns out to be a war then that’s all the better. The general public will endorse Bradley if ESPN jams highlights from a slug fest down their throats, remember this is a highlight generation and there’s no advertisement like a quip from a Sports Center anchor. If he repeats the next level FOY performance against Manny Pacquiao Floyd Mayweathers name will come attached with the clips and he’ll be forced to explain it away to a less than receptive audience. A decisive win over Pacquiao is a game changer, it puts Arum in a position to where he has to choose to put his golden goose back together again while letting Bradley cross the street Miguel Cotto style. Arum isn’t a believer in black fighters as “draws” which is why Floyd hates him, trust me he’ll be too busy looking for another punching bag for Manny try to leverage Bradley. And after beating "Pacman" decisively Bradley can easily co-opt his fans with a gracious demeanor and respect for the Champion of the Philippines. Hell if he can he should go there and support Manny’s political efforts and bond with the people who would gladly transfer their hopes of beating Mayweather onto Bradley in the short term.

                #2 Call Floyd out early and often

I know I know, everybody calls him out but Tim Bradley will be the most decorated welterweight to call him out in years. Remember, there’s no shame in calling him out when you consider the fact that he is actually listening to everyone but the guy you just beat Pacquiao once and for all. Calling out Floyd will be greeted with derision by his propaganda arm but all one has to do is point out that Amir Khan, Juan Manuel Marquez and Ricky Hatton were all “heard” (by Floyd) because they all had no shot. Bradley has no better platform than post fight once he handles Pacquiao to let it be known and do it in a colorful and unmistakable way. This will assure face time on ESPN’s “First Take” and Bradley must find a way to lead Stephen A. Smith (A Mayweather “fan”) to the water because he’s not hard to convince. Hell even where a Floyd Who? T-shirt to Max Kellermans “Face off” if you have to, remember Floyd will start saying Bradley’s trying to “get paid” but make it clear to every hot microphone  within 50 feet that he deserves to get paid. Turn his words against him, Bradley shouldn’t be the least bit shy about reiterating Mayweather's “they call it prize fighting” mantra.

             #3 Hire an Aggressive PR Firm

There has to be some outlay in order to bring the money home, and hiring a professional group is a wise investment. Picture it as a real campaign, a product that needs to be sold just like any other new product. Ali was his own PR machine who had no problem showing up in Denver and Philly to harass Sonny Liston and Joe Frazier because they had what he wanted. Floyd’s backyard is Vegas so why wouldn’t an aggressive firm run spots in Vegas? why wouldn’t Bradley do something charitable in Sin City and invite Floyd out to help?. Go on a Hip Hop Radio (Power 105, Hot 97) media tour and piss all over his backyard, this is the one constituency his opponents haven’t exploited in the call out stage so Bradley should be the first. A firm can stress the importance of doing more than press releases, how getting out there as a public figure is the way to sell anything in 2014. If Bradley can get some kind of cameo on a BET or "TVOne" type of show it would work wonders. Hell put on a suit and make yourself a presence at Black Hollywood Gala’s and hobnob with the celebrity set. At this point he’s a “who”? With black people and he needs to at least become “that dude who thinks he can whoop Floyd” by the fall- a serious upgrade. If Floyd is playing for anybody its black folks, specifically young black males so Bradley should appeal to the "WorldStarHipHop" crowd because if they “think” Floyd is on some punk shit they’ll call him on it.

 

                            #4 Frame Yourself as the Contrast to Mayweather

Believe it or not the fights that capture our imagination present us with two opposing forces like boxer vs. puncher or flashy vs. down to earth grinder. Bradley is a grinder with the opposite personality to Floyd, shine a spotlight on it! Mayweather cornered the market on “flashy, obnoxious African American” so Bradley has to bring attention to the differences between himself and the Grand Rapids native. HBO’s “Real Sports” can do a feature on him to create the kind of framing needed to polarize and make people choose sides. If they can play the race card by bringing in Michael Eric Dyson to lob Mayweather fat juicy softballs bring in someone else to draw the very real conflict ( us vs. them)  now bubbling in the black community. Facebook is filled with young black men posing with stacks of money that they didn’t get by hard work and dedication thanks to Floyd, so why not highlight this fact? Tim Bradley can present himself as the alternative and become a celebrity for his overtly non celebrity image if he “puts Floyds name in his mouth”. Bradley’s very lifestyle isn’t vulnerable to Mayweather’s usual claims aimed at Pacquiao, with resume in hand he can sell himself on integrity alone and put Floyd’s hypocrisy “all out on front street”. Even if he’s embraced by the conservative right as the kind of athlete African Americans “should” root for it’s better than anonymity and it also tears a page out of the Mayweather book on self-promotion. Make “the rounds”, late night or any non-boxing forum your firm can arrange because it’s about finding a supportive mainstream tribe. Floyd found the vicarious video game playing “ballers” back in 2007; in 2014 Bradley has to find his.

                                #5 Send Joel Diaz “after” the babbling Mayweather’s

It’s the worst kept secret in all of Boxing, the Mayweather’s aren’t elite trainers but their involvement with Floyd gives them license to comment on any other trainer in the business. Diaz should hit them where it hurts and make it clear that at this point training Floyd Mayweather is like coaching LeBron James which is why you can switch the babbling brothers in and out between rounds if you wanted to. I’m not sure he’d notice. Floyd may be a major league shit talker but he got it from these two, and his uncle and father aren’t as secure in their position as he is. Diaz may be a class act but getting muddy can lead him to the only fight that makes sense if Bradley beats Pacquiao in impressive fashion. The uncle and the father talk shit more consistently than Floyd so Diaz should get the running chatter going now before Bradley steps in with Pacquiao. Any claims of Cold War go out of the window after Floyd steps in with Amir Khan, by my estimation once that farce is signed Diaz can say the following to the babbling Mayweather’s.

“How can you talk so much shit about who can’t fight and take on Guerrero, Canelo and Khan in succession?” Diaz may be the trainer of the #2 fighter pound for pound in Boxing by spring and you’d have to be a fool to let any one of these guys (Floyd Sr. or Roger) tell you he don’t deserve the shot. More importantly Diaz can point out that “his” guy doesn’t quit which is more than you can say for ALL of Mayweather’s recent opponents with the exclusion of Miguel Cotto.  Bradley made his bones not caring about obstacles and Floyd’s trainers are masters at hypothetical obstacles that don’t mean shit to guys like the desert storm. If he starts now he can break down all of the obstacles figurative and literal that makes this fight a long shot because the truth is he’s probably the last fighter “worthy” of fighting Floyd Mayweather.

Amir Khan: Cold War Profiteer



“War is a Racket, Always has been and always will be. Few profit and many end up paying”

Smedley Butler

 

Truer words have ever been spoken, only a select few know the truth behind a war and yet in boxing everybody “knows”. When rich men in suits posture and feign disgust while both providing a watered down service at inflationary prices only boxing fans believe they deserve that product. Now that Floyd Mayweather is searching to do business in this so called hostile environment we are confronted with a “product” guaranteed to be overvalued in this surreal marketplace- Amir Khan. Yes, he of quick hands British accent and shaky chin is now available to you at a 75$ clip because Golden Boy is taking their act global! War usually leads to shortage of supply in commodities and in this case the shortage is of welterweights who the public believes can beat Mayweather. But it won’t matter once the Showtime hype machine starts rolling, when they’re done with him many of you reading this will believe he’s competent at your own peril. And those of you already committed to the (cough) “war” will say he’s even more live than Pacquiao, Hall of Fame credentials be damned.

Cue the lights and camera’s because the boy can talk shit too, a great “fight selling” tool when you’re woefully overmatched and lacking credentials. War profiteers often exploit the largess of the state by overselling them commodities they really don’t need like mosquito nets and second tier junior welterweights. Few contractors profit from the delusional premise that Khan should be on this stage but War offers advancement to he who is willing to propagandize a meritless cause. Floyd Mayweather has an online propaganda arm in full bloom for those acolytes willing to obsess on Manny Pacquiao’s finances and Virgil Hunter calls Khans “troubling speed”. He also has family members as disinformation agents belittling Manny Pacquiao just enough to keep you from focusing on the fact that turning Khan into a threat will be a feat insurmountable by even Don Draper himself. Amir Khan will profit greatly from all of this because anyone approaching truthful analysis about the Brits “level” will be shot down and called a “broke hater”- and many of you can’t stomach the thought. This synthetic War apparatus will protect him as it will those who engage in staging “Pacquiao vs. Marquez 10” in 2015. Once a profiteer has his claws into the revenue stream of phony war it’ll be hard to get him off of the Government dole-which is why we still care about what Victor Ortiz is going to “do” in the future.

Khan is so intent on getting his Government bailout that he’s hinted at fighting Pacquiao if the Mayweather deal falls through; he’s no stranger to the fact that these two have been “using” one another to market themselves for years. Remember, in fake wars profiteers have no real allegiance and will sell pieces of themselves to whoever is willing to overpay; only Miguel Cotto swam this political swamp having delivered valuable services. Shane Mosley? not so much. The “state” (Top Rank/Golden Boy) only appear to be at a stalemate much like Democrats and Republicans but the truth is war allows them to inflate value and further control those already under contract. They also have the ability to govern with the consent of the fans who don’t realize our PPV “buys” are construed as votes for the continuation of shadow Government. They are behind the scenes a single monopolistic force who leverages one another as the NFL leverages existing franchises with the threat of expansion to LA.

War profiteers are shameless creatures who exploit the suffering of the whole to become one of the benefiting few. Khan is a product of this designed chaos, he’s seen guys of his ilk line up and get paid so he wants his handout too-and why not? He’s got 1.4 million twitter followers mate. This war seems to be designed to deny the historic and important and replace it with rhetorical fan chatter and a ton of rushed, not ready for primetime puppies. You know how I can tell Danny Garcia will be an All Time Great? because he’s clearly better than Khan and Broner and yet he isn’t itching to get at Mayweather. Somehow (unlike the guy he beat handily) Garcia knows the machine can turn him into a credible B side for a career high payday but he’s content with the long play  that he may possibly be Floyd in 5 years. Without a bunch of youngsters with instant gratification issues this war is at a standstill, under peacetime coherence the Brandon Rios’s and Amir Khans of the world sort themselves amongst each other while Manny and Floyd tend to historic business. But no, we are led to believe that incredibly wealthy men simply don’t like one another while men with similar grievances make BILLIONS with one another in every other industry daily. The belief in a War that makes grown men act like middle school girls is the belief in the cover story being fed the uninitiated-when the truth is somehow this thing is more profitable for all involved parties this way. One would have to suspend his faculties of reason to accept Amir Khan as anything more than another line item of the overhead needed to keep the  charade (I mean war) going.

Amir Khan is doing his part by acting as if he wants Mayweather more than he wants money, when you sign a bout agreement before your number is called son it’s about the money. By round 4 like most Mayweather foes Khan will run out of answers and his true colors will show. He’ll behave like the paid patsy he is and start protecting future paydays as opposed to fighting with little regard for tomorrow, you know like the guy he barely survived back in 2011. Back then he was fighting for more, back then he at least had the inkling that he might be special. That ship has sailed, and all that’s left is to exploit the Cold War to get paid like he’s special. In May he’ll be reminding us of our complicity and apathy, and our willingness to accept anything power tells us is reality- and yes “power” includes the networks who KNOW their use of the phrase “Cold War” is legitimizing to the promoters. Speaking truth to power is hard in wartime, and few benefit from pointing out the obvious-those who tell you to accept life as a casualty are usually those who like to call themselves the winners. But history can be cruel to many Wars and boxing history is only kind to wars that occur in the squared circle.

The History of Boxing will not forgive for the things we obsess upon daily, and there’s no room for larva like Tommy Summers or even the esteemed Al Haymon. History is for the fighters and what they did and didn’t do; history is cold and devoid of nuance much like accounting. Maybe one day there will be a book about these fascinating times (look for a subsidiary of Ring Magazine to publish it) but characters like Khan won’t register in real history books. When independent historians who aren’t beholden to the machine look at it they will examine it as political scientist does this country “after” JFK. Without the “WAR” you cannot justify how soon guys like Khan and Ortiz have reached this PPV status, with the War Mayweather and Pacquiao function as tools meant to add value to the whole stable of Welterweight talent regardless of whether they’re ready or not. “Bigger Checks Sooner” is what I call it. The model works, and we’ll never know if any of them could have grown into fighters who could legitimately retire Mayweather or Pacquiao because it don’t pay as well nor as soon. Amir Khan is perfect for this climate and if he’s OK with being “cash out” insert opponent here then more power to him.

But just don’t tell me it’s a War.