Floyd Mayweather Should Not Comment on Domestic Violence

By Bryanna Fissori

Sometimes Mayweather should really just decline interviews. Or maybe get a speechwriter. You know, like politicians and other public figures. That might take some of the pressure off of thinking and talking at the same time.

Recent Beating Recap

Domestic violence is currently the hot topic in professional sports. Within the span of mere weeks three significant, high profile events have taken place.

1. Ray Rice, running back for the Baltimore Ravens was suspended when charges were filed against him for domestic violence. The NFL then implemented new standards for such situations. Rice was subsequently let go when a video of the abuse was released to the media, although there are rumors that the NFL had already seen the video.

2. MMA Fighter “War Machine” was arrested for beating his porn star girlfriend Christy Mack, nearly to death. He is currently in jail and has been released by the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) promotion.

3. Floyd Mayweather Jr, who needs no introduction in the boxing world, was served with a domestic violence lawsuit by his ex-fiancée just last week. He has already been convicted multiple times for the same charge against different women. He even served two months in jail in 2012 before being released for “good behavior,” or basically because he is Floyd Mayweather.

It’s All in the Evidence

All these events have brought the domestic violence issue to the forefront of media and public awareness. It doesn’t look good for anyone. Well, maybe not anyone but Mayweather, who seems to be of the opinion that if there are no photos it didn’t happen. He’s like Teflon.

When speaking to Hub TV about his own case the boxer stated, “I’m pretty sure that with my situation, no bumps, no bruises, no nothing . . . with OJ and Nicole, you seen pictures. With Chris Brown and Rihanna, you seen pictures. With Ochocinco and Evelyn, you seen pictures.”

Apparently, he is pretty confident that there are no pictures of Shantel Jackson that will come into evidence in his upcoming litigation.

The Empathy

Mayweather also criticized the NFL for terminating Rice’s contract and not sticking to the two game suspension they had originally decided on. He also said that he wished him the best.

Originally, after purportedly seeing the video of Rice hitting his wife, Mayweather stated, “I think there are a lot worse things that go on in other people’s households also. Its just not caught on video.”

Could Mayweather be referring to worse things like when the boxer beat and kicked Josie Harris, the mother of his children as she lay on the ground and also threated their two children, one of which was able to escape and call the police. Or maybe, like when he pointed a gun at Shantel Jackson (according to her recent claim) and threatened to shoot her in the foot.

After receiving backlash from the masses, Mayweather apologized to the NFL stating that he had not seen the video of Rice and he didn’t mean to offend anyone . . . even though he said earlier that he had seen the video. Talking and thinking again Floyd?

Big Mean Professional Athletes Run Rampant

The fact is that this just keeps happening, not just in the three aforementioned situations, but across the board in professional athletics. Were the NFL and UFC right to terminate their athletes? That is a serious question and some of the answer could hinge on whether or not they are convicted of the assault. This is where things get tricky.

Under the current NFL standards, there is a suspension period with or without conviction. That being said, Rice was let go without the legal conviction. But seriously, the whole world just watched a video of him knocking his wife out in an elevator . . . it would be hard to keep fans on the bandwagon for that . . . I digress.

Within a suspension period, there is a potential for charges to be dropped. Though that may or may not be for crappy reasons such as:

· The abused is too afraid to press charges

· She is suffering from battered wife syndrome and won’t leave (thinks he will change)

· There is a family to support

*Yes, I am saying “she” as if all cases of domestic violence are initiated by men. Yes, I know this is not true of all situations, but so far those are the ones that are being flashed across every television and computer screen right now. As a seasoned female fighter, I know I am capable of inflicting some serious damage on my male counter-parts, but I also know how to keep it in the cage unlike some other fighters.

So, the problem is, if she doesn’t press charges and they stay together someone still has to support the family. If he is out of a job, that could be tough. Another organization could potentially pick up the athlete. This might be easier in fighting because there are multiple promotions, but for sports like football and baseball this is a different situation.

Every case is vastly unique, therefore it is difficult to come up with a consistent punishment across the board. In the case of MMA’s “War Machine,” there will likely be an attempted murder charge tacked on to that domestic incident. That’s a whole other level of beat down.

Anger Management is For Real Folks

If Mayweather is right, (yikes! Did I say that?) and the photo and video make all the difference how does that change things? In reality, if there were no video of Ray Rice and no photos of Christy Mack (beaten by War Machine), these incidences probably wouldn’t be such a big deal.

Maybe these guys just have so much testosterone that they can’t deal with relationship issues. I’m a little edgy around competition time as well, but at the end of the day there is no excuse. Even multi-convicted Mayweather feels the same.

“I’m not perfect,” said Mayweather. “I make mistakes and I don’t condone that at all.”