ESPN Boxing

Updated: May 5, 2007, 9:47 AM ET

De La Hoya: Mayweather is the villain

Despite claims to the contrary, Floyd Mayweather is continuing to play the role of villain in his fight with Oscar De La Hoya, writes Dan Rafael.

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By Dan Rafael
ESPN.com
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LAS VEGAS -- Oscar De La Hoya, boxing's Golden Boy, has spent years honing his squeaky-clean image. It's surely one of the reasons he's become the sport's most popular fighter.

Part fighter, part heartthrob, part businessman, De La Hoya appeals to old and young, men and women, whites, blacks and, of course, Hispanics, in large part because he portrays himself as the quintessential good guy.

Floyd Mayweather Jr., on the other hand, has spent much of his career casting himself as the controversial villain character, but never more than he has during the past six months he and De La Hoya have spent promoting their mega-showdown Saturday (HBO PPV, 9 p.m. ET) at the MGM Grand.

The lines between the two fighters have been drawn in stark contrast to each other throughout the buildup to what could be the biggest-grossing fight in history.

Part of the reason is because it's so hard to resist the good guy versus bad guy story line.

HBO's "De La Hoya/Mayweather 24/7," the four-part documentary series that has been following the fighters through their training camps and the promotion -- the finale airs Thursday at 9:30 ET/PT p.m. -- has illustrated the differences quite clearly.

There is Mayweather: cursing constantly, verbally trashing De La Hoya, flaunting his money and bling, and aiming to bloody his sparring partners.

Then there is De La Hoya: watching golf on television with buddy and matchmaker Eric Gomez, talking on the telephone to Hollywood celebrities he is inviting to the fight, knocking off a little early from training one day to deliver a birthday cake to his wife, Millie, and working in an environment of camaraderie with his sparring partners.

It's pretty obvious one is being portrayed as the hero and the other as the heel.

De La Hoya disagrees with Mayweather's theory that every successful promotion needs a clear-cut good guy and bad guy.

"You had one of the biggest fights to date with Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield. Nobody was a villain there," De La Hoya said. "I mean, both of them were respectful and were nice. It was just that people wanted to see that fight. The fact that [Mayweather] says, 'Oh, I cast myself as a villain.' No, he didn't. That's just the way he is."

De La Hoya said Mayweather earned his role as the bad guy for his arrogant, gangster attitude and immature stunts, like having someone in his entourage steal De La Hoya's boxing gear while they were on the February promotional tour.

"If the fans are cheering me on more than they are for him, that's probably his fault," De La Hoya said. "I mean the way he acts, the way he carries himself, he didn't choose to be the villain. He is a villain."

HBO commentator Larry Merchant has called all of the meaningful fights in the careers of both fighters. He said Mayweather's over-the-top behavior is part reality, part hype.

"Some of it is calculated, but not all of it," Merchant said. "Oscar has pointed it out -- he plays the villain because he is the villain. That's how his life has gone, so Floyd wants to prove people wrong, throw your money around and win people over by being outrageous, by being over the top and having your bling have bling, and getting attention that way. It's natural to him. He's tried to have fun with it, and the promoters fan that. They're always trying to do that. I think it's a way of getting attention, which is applauded. It's almost a class thing, but it's portrayed as good guy/bad guy. It's more loud guy/quiet guy."

Mayweather said he is simply keeping it real while trying to create excitement for the fight because De La Hoya is boring.

"His interviews are fake. This is real. You all can touch me," an emotional Mayweather said while meeting with a small group of reporters after Wednesday's news conference. "You can go eat with me. Write what you want to write, say what you want to say, but this is what I want you to know: The best fighter ever is Floyd Mayweather, and I guarantee you all victory.

"I'm making this fight. When you watch '24/7' you can all say, 'This kid is cocky, this kid [is] arrogant.' Say what you want. But when you look at '24/7,' you see him playing with his dogs and drinking cappuccino and you say, 'We all do that, go back to that Mayweather. There's controversy and excitement with that kid Mayweather.'"

Mayweather, dripping with what he said was $1 million worth of diamond jewelry (watch, ring and necklace) also ripped De La Hoya's image as a nice family man as being fake, and chastised him for his past indiscretions.

"I'm proud to talk about all my kids and bring them on TV and show that I love them," said Mayweather, whose children have been seen throughout '24/7.'

Meanwhile, Mayweather called De La Hoya on the fact that on the series he has talked only about his 18-month-old son, Oscar Gabriel.

"Does he talk about his other kids on TV? No," Mayweather said. "He got kids out of wedlock, but do you [media] talk about that? Do you talk about how he loves to be a party animal? He loves when he leaves Puerto Rico so he can come here and party. That's why he likes that the fights are in Vegas. And what about the cases that he caught [a woman brought civil charges against him for rape; the case was settled out of court]? You all don't talk about that. But any dirt on me? You all put it front page. All you do is make me stronger. As long as you keep writing bad about me, you make me stronger.

"If you write good about me, something bad might happen. You keep writing and I will keep dominating. And to be honest, it don't matter what you write because I don't read your [expletive], anyway."

Mayweather had everyone's attention during his mini-tirade. He clearly enjoys projecting a bad-boy image, one that is real to an extent, given his many brushes with the law and notorious penchant for clubbing at Las Vegas' hottest night spots. But there are those who don't know his charitable side, something Mayweather rarely addresses.

"I like to trash talk, brag and boast about what I could do, you know, in the ring, but I never brag or boast about me giving back to my community, as far as me feeding the homeless every Thanksgiving or me -- you know, [buying] for all the kids that's in the inner city, that's in the urban community, they can't afford hat and gloves for school," Mayweather said in a rare humble moment about his activities in his native Grand Rapids, Mich. "We provide hats and gloves for the kids."

Even though Mayweather has had his own dustups with the law over domestic abuse allegations, he said, "We've helped the battered women and the battered children over the years. I never, never, you know -- I don't go there and talk about those type of things but, like I said before, this is a business and I understand. I understand that it has to be a good guy and it has to be a bad guy."

Dan Rafael is the boxing writer for ESPN.com.