Everyone knows Floyd Mayweather retired undefeated. However, there are many blogs and articles going around still whining about the fight some fans (haters) feel Mayweather really lost but was gifted the win. The fight was when Mayweather was 27-0 against Jose Luis Castillo. Irrational haters in their feelings literally keep going on about this for years and will not let it go. And there are many reasons why.
The Mayweather fight against Castillo was very close and both men performed well. However, Mayweather who began better but was giving ground to a surging Castillo ever so slightly edged out the win. This happens in boxing. In very close fights people will debate endlessly about who really won. For example, in the same manner, we’ve seen boxing fans argue endlessly about who really won both matches between Canelo Alverez and GGG. In the fight with Deontay Wilder against Tyson Fury, fans keep arguing that Fury clearly won even though it was ruled a draw. Fury very clearly out boxed Wilder all fight long, but the dangerous and powerful Wilder put Fury on the ground at key moments in the fight which balanced the scales a bit. However, the Mayweather vs Castillo argument is decidedly different than all those fights for many reasons. When fans have questions about who beat who-isms, how things play out several fights later sometimes answer those questions and settle the arguments with finality.
Part of what should have permanently put the Mayweather argument to rest was the rematch. In the rematch against Castillo, Mayweather shut Castillo out with a one-sided victory. Everyone should have learned that the first win was no fluke or stroke of luck. Mayweather was quite clearly the better man on his way to becoming what he eventually became. The benefit of the doubt should always go to the winner of the rematch. The end. Even more than that, Mayweather also beat the guys that also beat Castillo. Diego Corrales and Castillo traded wins but a strong and fresh Ricky Hatton KO’ed Castillo in 4 rounds. In contrast, Mayweather went on to KO both men as undefeated champions in their primes. So the argument is clear; Mayweather had a close one with Castillo, but destroyed him in their rematch, and then he went on to destroy guys who also bested him. Mayweather, a defensive master, went on to dominate the welterweight field hence forward. No disrespect to Castillo, a great fighter in his own right, but Mayweather left him behind in the dust.
As a perfected master in later years, Mayweather showed us how great he was by beating perhaps the most dangerous man in boxing at the moment, the new legend at the top of the chain Canelo Alvarez. Figuratively speaking, Mayweather brought Alvarez to his boxing clinic and made the undefeated phenom look amateurish. Then or now, Canelo would’ve knocked Castillo’s head off clean. The display that Mayweather put on against Alvarez was a crowning moment that let the boxing world know if you didn’t already, we were looking at a legend.
So you see, to most rational well-adjusted people, the argument is settled with an exclamation point—but not for these corny emotional haters that keep crying about the Castillo fight for years.
Why People Won’t Let this Go
No, the constant revival of the Castillo fight is not normal. There are 3 main reasons for the constant need to sully Floyd’s record and none of them are rational.
- Pacquiao Fanaticism
People love Manny Pacquiao, especially people from the Philippines. He’s all but worshipped there. Consequently, Pac fans will never give Mayweather a fair break or leave him alone because subconsciously people feel that he is the man in the way of Pacquiao being considered the best of his era. This is a little unfair and unwarranted because both are awesome legends that will be acclaimed for decades to come, but it’s Floyd’s era hands down.
Floyd not only beat him, though delusional fans will keep on denying it, he also out-earned him. In fact he gave Pacquiao his biggest pay day which also made Pacquiao one of the highest paid athletes behind Mayweather. So even though Max Kellerman and HBO attempted to crown Pacquiao skipping over Mayweather, it was bad form. It’s not so much that they believed it, but media outlets often have their agendas and they were deliberately feeding into a zealous fan base. Regardless, logically you really can’t make someone the king of an era when he too was beaten by an undefeated fighter on top of the field of that same era. So in the irrational psychology of fanaticism, some feel constantly formulating excuses will somehow demote Mayweather and diminish his legacy. And so, constantly bringing up the Castillo fight is something we’re just going to have to get used to.
- “Money” Mayweather
Lots of people don’t like Mayweather because he’s flashy and all about money. In truth, he was always very one-dimensional and braggadocios. Some people love that, many people don’t.
It’s always good to see when celebrities and star athletes live for a higher purpose. This is where Pacquiao leaves Mayweather in the dust. Pacquiao cares for his people and country, is involved politically and has really helped a lot of people. That’s why they love him. Mayweather, however, doesn’t seem as publicly altruistic. At any rate, to judge athletes according to their good works is not fair or reasonable.
Also, in Mayweather’s defense—the man is real. He never cared about being “the good guy” and he’s doing what he wants. A lot of people are fake and play up to the crowds and cameras, and it must be said he doesn’t do that. Flashing money is who he is and it’s real.
Regardless, real boxing fans should be able to talk boxing and judge boxers by what they did in the ring. That being said, love him or hate him, Mayweather worked hard to achieve what he did. That can’t be taken from him. He is a master and one of the best to ever do it. So the constant resurrection of the Castillo debate is just simply uncalled for.
- Racism
Last and certainly not least is the ever-present elephant in the room, and that is world wide racism. Unfortunately, it’s a socially-engineered program in the Matrix, so to speak.
Being “awesome-while-black” sometimes comes with a price. In some cases and in some circles, you’ll never get the benefit of the doubt, the Skip Bayless’s of the world will always be on your back and you’ll always have to come up the rough side of the mountain. It is what it is.
Since the days of Jack Johnson black fighters were expected to behave a certain away. Because Jack Johnson was too brash, confident and in-your-face, he was once one of the most hated men in America. He’s was building wealth and winning. And with each win American media of the day discredited and berated him with very openly racist commentary that unfortunately wasn’t shocking at the time. He was eventually even thrown in jail on trumped up charges, charges President Trump eventually pardoned. The racism in media isn’t as overtly bad these days, but yes, it’s still here strong as ever. It’s just more covert.
Like Johnson, people seem to hate Mayweather simply because they want to. People try so hard to deny racism and even pathetically try to deflect it as “the race card”, which actually doesn’t exist. It was an invented term to avoid talking about racism.
Regardless of dominant society’s incessant denials of racism, unfortunately comment sections all over the nation expose the truth. When debating with a Pacquiao fanatic on my own YouTube channel, he kept bashing Mayweather. I maneuvered him into a discussion including Lomachenko, Errol Spence and Terrence Crawford. He then started to rant that he respected Lomachenko, the white Ukrainian phenom, but started to berate Spence and Crawford, the black American fighters. All the aforementioned fighters are great. However, when I pressed him to explain why he felt the need to discredit Mayweather, Spence and Crawford but respected Lomo and loved Pacquiao—seeing what I did, he eventually and abruptly fled the conversation and ghosted. And there it is.
So as we see the Mayweather Castillo fight from almost 20 years ago keep resurfacing, know exactly what it’s all about. It’s not so much that Castillo bested Floyd that night. It’s merely still the best ammunition that haters have to tarnish an illustrious undefeated 20 year career, and they’ll keep at it for 20 more.
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