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‘We Need to Clean This Up’: Floyd Mayweather Vows to Correct Current Boxing Era’s Biggest Problem

Published 02/05/2023, 11:06 AM EST

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Boxing has been the most popular combat sport in the world for a long time and set up a precedent for other sports coming after it. One of the reasons for its popularity can be attributed to boxing legend Floyd Mayweather Jr who was the face of the sport and a global superstar. Moreover, being a fighter, Mayweather got to understand the inner workings of the sport and also the politics involved in it.

Naturally, he understood that there are some problems in boxing that need to be fixed if it wants to stay on top of other combat sports. It is safe to say that since ‘Money’ was competing at the pro level back then, he was handicapped in the things he could speak up about. This has now changed as he is retired from the sport but still remains one of its most influential spokespersons.

Floyd Mayweather Jr reveals the problem with boxing’s current era

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In an interview with FigthHype, Mayweather criticized the current state of boxing and the sanctioning bodies. He stated that the sport has been diluted due to an excessive number of champions in each division. According to him, there should not be more than four champions in each division, which certainly is not the case in boxing today. Moreover, he added that the four sanctioning bodies need to clean the sport up if they want boxing to grow and prosper.

We’re watering the sport down, everybody is champion now. There should only be four champions at each weight class but it’s more than four now. In the top ten, you may have 12 fighters in a weight class that’s champion, so the sport of boxing. we need to clean this up with all the sanctioning bodies. I’m not just talking about one particular sanctioning body,” he said.

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Mayweather feels that boxing is losing its charm due to every fighter being protected. However, he has vowed to become the voice who brings about change in the sport and speaks up against the issues in it.

Mayweather vows to speak up against issues in boxing

‘Money’ further made his feelings clear about the state of the sport. He stated that he has earned his way into a position where he wields some power and influence. Moreover, he claimed that he didn’t want to be associated with the sport if he couldn’t criticize it and wanted to give back money as well as time to boxing.

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I was put in this position to clean the sport up, I don’t want to be in boxing if I can’t help, if I can’t give back. I don’t want to just get back financially. I’m giving my time back, but I’m also going to give my voice. We have to clean the sport of boxing up there are too many champions in these weight classes,” he added.

USA Today via Reuters

The problem of multiple champions has been something that has been widely discussed for a while now. Moreover, this also adds to a larger problem in the sport, which is, top fighters rarely face each other. NBA legend Charles Barkley also claimed that this was the biggest problem with boxing today, even blaming Mayweather for it. However, now that ‘Money’ has come out against this issue, hopefully, the regulatory bodies will take notice and have a deep discussion about where to take the sport next.

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What did you think about Mayweather speaking up against the problem of multiple champions? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by:

Sahil Sood

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Sahil Sood is a Boxing writer at EssentiallySports. He earned his Bachelor’s degree in journalism and mass communication, and holds a keen interest in the 'sweet science'. His journey towards following boxing began when he first saw the highlights of Mike Tyson as a teenager, and then closely followed the rise of Floyd Mayweather.
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Edited by:

Shibu Immanuel