Mayweather, Race, and The Great White Hope

Let’s face it; race relations in our country are declining and showing no sign of improvement. People have been forced to pick sides and compromising seems like the last resort. Many people on the right find themselves defending Trump and his agenda, and many on the left find themselves sarcastically asking, “What about her emails?”. The Charlottesville incident and the unfortunate murder of Heather Heyer hasn’t helped, and Trump’s tone deaf response and his inability to immediately denounce white supremacy seemed to add insult to injury, which made many Republican’s publicly criticize his “both sides” comment.

Our politics usually carry over to the professional arena or field of play, and boxing provides many examples, both good and bad. African Americans have dominated the sport for more than a century, and they’ve inevitably become political figures due to the social and political status of our country. In 1908, Jack Johnson became the first African American boxer to win the World Heavyweight Title. Johnson fought during a highly contentious and racist era, and his public relationships with white women only added fuel to the fire. Congress made it illegal to transport prizefighting films across state lines because they were so concerned that Johnson’s dominance of white fighters would cause race riots. In fact, many white people hoped to find a white fighter who could finally defeat him, hence the term “The Great White Hope.” Joe Louis was no different. Before his historic second fight with the German Max Schmeling, he met with President Franklin D. Roosevelt at the White House. Despite gross inequalities and racism in America (and fascism in Europe), there was no doubt that both whites and blacks were pulling for Louis to win. Shortly thereafter, Muhammed Ali followed in his footsteps as the next political figure in boxing.

Boxing is truly a unique sport, which makes it impossible for prizefighters to avoid politics whether they want to or not. Unlike most sports, boxing is a one-on-one battle – there are no teammates to lean on or backups to replace you. So it’s the true epitome of strength and perseverance. Unlike the American Olympic teams we field every 4 years, it lacks team diversity because the team is just one person, the actual boxer. Diversity is one of the main benefits of team sports; however, the lack of diversity in boxing makes the issue of race unavoidable. So whenever a big fight like Mayweather – McGregor arrives, which matches up a black fighter vs. a white fighter, race is an issue and people inevitably pick sides.

Despite Floyd Mayweather’s previous claims and convictions of domestic violence, his flashy attitude, his “all lives matter” statement, and his support of Donald Trump, many African Americans still found a reason to support and root for him. That support might be tied to rooting for black men regardless of their past shortcomings or rooting for the American athlete when his or her opponent represents another nation. On the other hand, that support might be due to their lack of knowledge regarding all of the above issues, or it might be McGregor’s flashiness and loose lips referring to a gym of black men training as “dancing monkeys” or telling Mayweather to “dance for me boy” during one of their promotional tours. Maybe it’s a combination of things, either way, I think it’s safe to say that very few African Americans were pulling for McGregor.

On the other hand, many white people were rooting against Mayweather. Maybe it was years of his arrogant attitude that they could no longer stomach, his domestic violence past, his undefeated record and wanting to root for the underdog, or maybe it was the fact that McGregor was an Irishman. Whatever their reasons were, I think it’s safe to say that McGregor’s racist comments about monkeys and dancing probably weren’t one of them, or at least didn’t impact their decision of who to root for like it did for African Americans.

Is it a naïve assumption to suggest that all African Americans were rooting for Mayweather just because he was African American, or that all white people were rooting for McGregor just because he was white? Of course, it is. But as many issues fall on racial lines, boxing, especially when the men or women fighting represent different nations, is usually no different. President Trump, on the campaign trail and during his early presidency, made patriotism a hot button issue. Despite Floyd’s support of Trump, ironically, there wasn’t much patriotism or support on display for the American fighter as he vied to remain undefeated and go 50 – 0. His victory would’ve further ingrained his place in history as arguably the best boxer of all time, and many American’s clearly wanted to see him fail.

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