Dan Rafael from ESPN wrote on his blog an awesome piece on Floyd Mayweather Jr. enjoy.
By Dan Rafael
I’ve certainly been known to give Floyd Mayweather Jr. grief for his opponent selections in recent years, for his usual refusal to give a straight answer on many basic boxing-related questions, and I’ve certainly placed more blame on him than anyone else for the fight with Manny Pacquiao not happening yet.
But I’m also one to give credit where credit is due, and Mayweather deserves credit. This isn’t about him being a great fighter, which he is. This is about his softer, charitable side, which he does have — even if he doesn’t flaunt it.
On June 7, former two-time junior lightweight champion Genaro Hernandez died at age 45 after a three-year battle with cancer. He was a beloved figure in boxing circles, known for his humility, friendly nature and everyman attitude. Hernandez was the rare exception in boxing in that you can’t find anyone to say a bad word about him.
On Monday, Hernandez’s family held his funeral in East Los Angeles, where people from his community and throughout boxing packed the church to honor the former champion, the husband, the son, the brother, the friend and the father of two.
As a pro fighter, Hernandez made a good living, but he never raked in huge money. Never made a million-dollar purse. Not even close. When he retired in 1998, he had to continue working. He made ends meet doing television commentary, mostly for promoter Bob Arum’s Top Rank cards. He also worked as a punch counter for CompuBox.
It was Arum who, with no fanfare, who bought the life insurance for cancer patients and covered most of the medical costs associated with Hernandez’s cancer treatment. That was a classy move and his assistance, I am sure, was much appreciated.
As much as Arum and Mayweather detest each other, it’s clear they can agree on one thing — a mutual admiration and respect for Hernandez. Bob Arum paid the medical bills and Mayweather, also without fanfare, relieved the Hernandez family of another financial burden when he picked up the cost of Hernandez’s funeral, simply out of the goodness of his heart.
Mayweather knew Hernandez, but it’s not like they were buddies. When Mayweather won his first world title at junior lightweight on Oct. 3, 1998, at the Las Vegas Hilton, he did it by stopping Hernandez in the eighth round.
At the time, many thought Mayweather, in only his 18th pro fight, was biting off a bit more than he could chew by taking on such a respected champion at that early stage of his career.
But Mayweather cruised. That dominant win against Hernandez was the start of Mayweather’s run to world titles in five divisions. It was also the final fight, in the ring anyway, for Hernandez, who retired after the bout.
Mayweather is often branded the bad guy, which is sometimes deserved given his long list of outside-the-ring legal problems. In fact, he currently faces a litany of charges in two criminal cases in Las Vegas.
The man with the self-issued nickname of “Money” also loves to flaunt his wealth, which can rub people the wrong way, especially in these difficult economic times.
With his brash talk, Mayweather revels in playing the villain role in his fights in order to help sell pay-per-view subscriptions, which he will undoubtedly do again in the coming weeks when the promotion for his Sept. 17 welterweight title fight against Victor Ortiz kicks off.
But, like everyone, Mayweather isn’t always what he seems. He can’t be — and shouldn’t be — judged strictly in black-and-white terms. When he heard about Hernandez’s passing, he insisted on picking up the tab for the funeral, no questions asked about expenses. Whatever the Hernandez family needed, Mayweather would foot the bill.
Mayweather seeks publicity for just about everything, but not for this act of kindness. When word began to circulate that Mayweather was paying the expenses, I checked with Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather’s longtime adviser, to see if that was true.
Sure was.
“Quietly, he took care of it,” Ellerbe said. “As soon as he found out about it, he called and asked me to find out the details so he could help out.”
Ellerbe proceeded to get in touch with Rudy Hernandez, Genaro’s brother, to tell him what Mayweather wanted to do.
“There was about a minute of silence on the phone, but he was appreciative,” Ellerbe said. “He told me what he thought it was going to cost, and I said Floyd was going to take care of it. Floyd likes to do things like that. That’s just the type of person he is. He has done things like this over the last 10 years — and I am not exaggerating — at least 20 times. I’ve seen a fan write to him or contact him through our website needing something like that done and Floyd would do it out of kindness. I can recall at least 20 times that he’s done that because I am the one who handled the details.
“He doesn’t like to take credit for those kinds of things, and he would probably get mad at me for saying these things, but it’s the kind of heart he has.”
Mayweather has sponsored turkey giveaways on Thanksgiving. He threw his financial muscle behind the National Golden Gloves tournament a few years ago when it took place in his native Michigan and was facing a serious budget shortfall. He has been known to hand out money to down-on-their-luck folks in Las Vegas, where he has lived for many years.
Paying for Hernandez’s funeral came about because of the respect Mayweather had for him as a person and as a fighter, Ellerbe said.
“They always had a mutual respect for one another over the years,” Ellerbe said. “When they saw each other, they always embraced. A ton of respect.”
Ellerbe said Mayweather didn’t attend the funeral because he just doesn’t go to funerals, although he certainly was there in spirit, thanks to his generosity.
“He likes to remember people just as they were,” Ellerbe said. “Floyd was saddened by the loss. When he found out, he told me to stop what I was doing and to find out the details and get in contact with his family members to let them know he was going to take care of everything, no matter what it cost.”
The man called “Money” is using his to be an angel.
Floyd it takes a good man an a good heart to do what you did for the Hernadez family i give you alot of respect for what you did alot of people wouldnt have steped up to the plate like you did you are not only a good boxer but your a good man and what you did came out of your heart ,as you know you have been blessed in many ways and more blessing are still coming this is a doggy dog world but what ever come out of you heart comes out much more than than what you did take care my Brother The Candyman (Candyman Boxing of Whittier cali. God Bless you Floyd remember what i said your blessing will keep coming
Hats off to floyd.and yea ,boxing has so many wonderful folks associated with it. ive had a few tough things happen ,this and that and the only ones who offered any help were boxing people and ones i hardly new at that . especially that ragin cagin in Lafayette ! God Bless him
And for the record, he didn’t want publicity!! But I couldn’t let this one go. Give credit where credit is due. My brother left knowing that boxing has great people. Shane Mostley covered a Nurse and Doctor, for several days, another one who did this, from the heart. Thank all of you for being there for him.
Very kind and admirable of Mayweather he’s earned some major respect in my book.
@ jay I feel u.” u can never Judge a book by it’s cover nd the roles that he plays up 2 his fights b/c again it’s all Business nd what ever issues he has outside of the ring he nd only he has 2 deal with then just as we all hv 2 deal with our inner Demons.” my grandfather always told me 2 never judge a person unless u walked 1000 miles in their shoes. So I never did so far.” 🙂
Yo Edgar you know I’m one of the first to get on Floyds case about his clown like antics but this article makes me want to take back some sh–t I said recently about him. I’m a man and I can admit when I’ve been wrong, and like Dan I’ll give credit where its due. Floyd gets big ups for what he did, I to must tip my hat to floyd. Its good to see him in a different light for a change. I’d like to see him in that light more often, maybe if he would stop the games and show his real heart me and alot of other fans could find a new respect for him.
I agree with ur comment edgar! He helped the family and the funds with his generous heart lots of boxing fans will c this for what he did to help others in need
You have to admit this was really generous move by Mayweather. I tip my hat for him.
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