JOHN GURZINSKI/AFP/GETTY IMAGESGolden Boy CEO, Richard Schaefer, says the Floyd Mayweather Jr. (left) and Marcos Maidana (right) fight will go on despite the gloves dispute.
Shortly after the weigh-in for Saturday’s big fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Marcos Maidana, a collective gasp went through the media center: the bout was in jeopardy because of a gloves dispute with one of Mayweather's representatives claiming the fight was off.
As if the welterweight unification match didn’t need any more controversy, along comes Glovesgate.
A day before a fight, it’s customary for boxers to settle on the gloves they will wear. It’s also not unusual for boxers to engage in a bit of gamesmanship to get into the heads of their opponents by objecting to their preferred gloves.
The two sides continued to bicker into the evening on Friday with both camps acknowledging the fight would likely go on since so much money was at stake while still maintaining a hard stance: Mayweather didn’t want Maidana to use a certain model of Everlast glove because of a perceived lack of padding in the knuckle area. And Maidana maintained the gloves were fine since they were approved by the Nevada Athletic Commission.
On Saturday morning, Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy, told the Daily News that he had been informed by Mayweather adviser Al Haymon the gloves issue had been resolved and both sides had worked out a solution: Mayweather would wear Grant gloves and Maidana would don Everlast gloves, though Schaefer couldn't say what brand of Everlast glove he would wear.
Most agreed the fight was never in serious jeopardy of being canceled in the first place and this was more or less posturing by the two camps.
"That's why you never saw me getting really worked up when I was discussing it on Friday," Schaefer said. "I've been in boxing a long time. These things happen and have a way of getting themselves worked out."
Schaefer made a point on Friday to say that contracts for boxers going forward should include clauses to describe the exact types of gloves the boxers will use to avoid this type of issue taking place barely 24 hours before a match.
“These days you see all these fancy made gloves being used by fighters and I think the commission is probably going to be implementing new rules where if somebody wants to use custom sized gloves they’re going to have to be presented to the commission way before the weigh in,” Schaefer said.
JOHN GURZINSKI/AFP/GETTY IMAGESFloyd Mayweather Jr. (left) faces Marcos Maidana (right) during their weigh-in at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Friday.
A look at the gloves dispute bears out Schaefer’s point. On Friday, Mayweather’s camp objected to a customized style powder
blue Everlast MX Boxing glove that Maidana wanted to use.
blue Everlast MX Boxing glove that Maidana wanted to use.
After Mayweather loudly protested the use of the gloves, the Nevada Athletic Commission inspected the pair and ruled they “were not allowed,” according to Schaefer. Mayweather complained that he didn’t “want to end up like a vegetable” if he received a blow from the thinly padded 8-ounce gloves, according to a source at the scene.
At that point, the state commission ordered representatives from both camps into a room, the source said. Maidana’s camp then produced another variation of the MX model that combines horse hair and foam. This time, the gloves were approved by the commission, Schaefer said.
But Mayweather again objected, saying the dispersal of padding was still back-loaded, meaning the stuffing was more toward the wrist instead of the knuckle. The commission then ordered both sides to resolve the issue themselves.
JOHN GURZINSKI/AFP/GETTY IMAGESFloyd Mayweather Jr. weighs in for his fight against Marcos Maidana at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Friday.
“There’s a dispute and it will get figured out but we’re not fighting with those gloves,” Mayweather adviser Leonard Ellerbe told the Daily News on Friday.
Later that day, Ellerbe told Fighthype.com in a separate interview: “No, we’re not fighting tomorrow. It is what it is.”
However, Schaefer told a small group of reporters in the media room at the MGM that he expects the matter to be resolved and the fight to go on.
“They’re still talking about it but everything will be worked out,” Schaefer said on Friday. Schaefer was asked if the two camps can’t come to a resolution, what next.
“I’ve been told there will be no problem,” Schaefer said on Friday. “There’s going to be a fight and they’re both going to wear gloves and we’re all going to be happy.”
He was right. Schaefer also said it was not uncommon for fighters to object to an opponent’s gloves as a way to get into their head, something that Mayweather (45-0) has been doing over the course of his career to the men he has faced- and beaten.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more-sports/mayweather-fight-jeopardy-gloves-dispute-article-1.1778032#ixzz30kvuShlK
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