Pittsburgh Fight Sports Examiner
It was a case of another public appearance, another heckling for Floyd Mayweather last night at the Foxwoods resort in Conneticut, where he witnessed Victor Ortiz upset previously unbeaten Andre Berto to take the WBC welterweight championship.
As the cameras panned to Mayweather, sitting ringside with ever present pal 50 Cent, the former pound for pound champ was roundly booed and heckled by the crowd, who even began chanting the name of his chief rival Manny Pacquiao.
Considering that this was a primarily American audience and that Mayweather was one half of the biggest pay per view event in the history of the sport only a few years ago, this goes to show just how much public opinion has turned against him of late.
This isn't the first time that he has received a similar reaction either. Sites like Youtube are littered with videos of Mayweather being hounded, questioned and booed when appearing in public.
Rumor has it that Mayweather was attending the fight to scout out Andre Berto, who he was considering as a comeback opponent.
Of course Berto having lost that plan is now out of the window, although new champion Victor Ortiz is signed with Golden Boy who Mayweather has worked with for several years and so could still be a potential option.
Whether Golden Boy would be all that eager to match Ortiz against Mayweather, given that the latter is still largely inactive and that the former could potentially become a big draw in his own right, is far from certain however.
If for whatever reason either Mayweather isn't keen on Ortiz as an opponent or Golden Boy aren't keen to risk their newest champion, then he appears to be fast running out of options.
Floyd's father and uncle were both quick to rubbish rumors of a fight with Paul Spadafora.
The likes of Sergio Martinez or Paul Williams are both too dangerous for a comeback fight, as well as both having size and strength advantages an aging Mayweather might struggle to overcome.
Other than Pacquiao, other Top Rank fighters are probably out of the question as well due to the ongoing war between Top Rank and Mayweather promotional partners Golden Boy.
The fans as ever are making their opinions clear, they want Mayweather to finally step up to the plate and face Manny Pacquiao, proving once and for all who the best fighter in the sport today really is.
How much this really matter to or affects Mayweather is debatable. It was also rumored however that after the fight he was set to be interviewed by HBO, which in the end never happened.
Whether this is because of the surprise ending (Berto, an acquaintance of Mayweather's was the heavy favoite to win) or the fact that he was annoyed that once again American fans were supporting a Filipino rather than him is unknown.
What is clear though is that Mayweather can expect more of the same until either he fights Pacquiao or leaves the sport entirely and announces his retirement.
Dan Bowen, Pitt: "Floyd knows he's slowing down so he's waiting until Pac gets old and banged up before he agrees to fight him"
Kevin Goldsmith, Philly: "Mayweather won't ever accept the fight because he can make millions fighting nobodies instead and that's all he wants these days"
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