In advance of the May 2 fight, last week, ESPN's coverage of Floyd Mayweather split hairs. All week on First Take and SportsCenter, different clips from Stephen A. Smith's day out with Mayweather aired. In the various puff-piece segments, Mayweather proudly showed off his fleet of cars, his Las Vegas penthouse, and anything else he could to demonstrate how his hard work within boxing has paid off. Smith, as expected, stood around and hooted at Mayweather's ego-stroking valuables and outlandish statements.
The entire interview didn't go over well with many who question why we're all putting up with Floyd's shit when, as ESPN's Outside the Lines exposed in a feature that ran last week (after Smith's clips were published), he has a police-reported decade-long history as a serial domestic abuser against multiple women, including a conviction for assault against the mother of his children. All of which, OTL notes, Mayweather has never been apologetic about.
This Monday morning, First Take decided to devote time to further debate the debate surrounding Mayweather. Smith did open his commentary by condemning Mayweather's actions saying, “The fact that he finds himself in this situation is egregious, and reprehensible and it’s disgusting.”
He then, however, went on to excuse himself for his bad reporting because he didn't have the balls to push Mayweather into a real discussion about his past. Smith added that he wasn't aware of everything in the OTL feature before saying, “When I asked Floyd about things I heard face-to-face, on-camera, off-camera, he’s emphatically and categorically denied it, even went so far as to say, ‘You know something? If I could be honest and straight-forward and speak truth, maybe I would speak on the issue. But because I can’t do so, it is what it is.’ And you stop from there.”
So, here you have an ESPN employee plainly putting up with a subject's blatant lies—the fact that Mayweather can "emphatically and categorically" deny any of his actions is reprehensible to begin with—and saying that because said subject believes he can't "speak truth" out of fear for his own image, he gets a pass: And you stop from there. How is that even remotely acceptable? That's just cowardice feeding cowardice.
It's expected though, which may be the worst part. In the past, Smith has been an open defender of Mayweather through the boxer's legal troubles:
Let me say this: I'm hard pressed to believe Floyd Mayweather Jr. Put his hands on a woman, and I damn sure don't believe he committed Grand
— Stephen A Smith (@stephenasmith) September 11, 2010Smith went on to dilute his personal role in extending Mayweather's #MoneyTeam brand by openly blaming everyone for letting a scumbag like Mayweather continue to pursue his career as a wealthy boxer: “They could never be who they are ... if we didn’t allow it collectively to happen.” Yes, that's true, but nowhere did he mention the fact that his Mayweather interview special will air six times this week on ESPN and ABC. He's actively allowing "it" to happen and not taking any moral responsibility—be sure to catch his interview though!
"We know exactly why Floyd Mayweather Jr. was allowed to have four more fights after being incarcerated in Las Vegas: They see an opportunity to get money," argued Smith.
Here's Stephen A's point (I think): Stop ripping on me, because everyone else has been hopping on Mayweather's money-filled bandwagon for over a decade.
He wrapped up by interjecting into Cari Champion's prepared segment-ending statement, "Still going to the fight!" Her sarcastic quip at the end of Smith's defiant statement says everything, really: "As is everyone watching it and buying it. Worry about ourselves and no one else."
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After that, First Take then segued into a segment on Tim Tebow, because: First Take.
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[via Deadspin]
