Advertisement

Floyd Mayweather offers apology for earlier comments on Ray Rice

LAS VEGAS -- It's rare anyone lays a glove on Floyd Mayweather, but the world's best pound-for-pound boxer took a beating on Wednesday. This time, though, it wasn't from a fellow boxer in the ring, but from boxing media criticizing him for comments he'd made earlier about former Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice.

Near the end of an approximately half-hour session Tuesday in a lounge off the main lobby at the MGM Grand, Mayweather was asked his opinion of the video that surfaced showing Rice knocking out his then-fiancee, Janay, with a left hook in an elevator in Atlantic City, N.J.

Mayweather never expressed remorse that Janay Rice was knocked unconscious and instead said the NFL should have kept Rice's suspension at two games. When a reporter said the video of the Rice incident was disturbing, Mayweather seemingly dismissed it.

I think there are a lot of worse things that go on in other people's households, also. It's just not caught on video.

That quote, and several others, prompted news stories across the country. He was lambasted by Stephen A. Smith, normally a Mayweather ally, on ESPN's First Take. Keith Olbermann named Mayweather his "Worst Person in the World," in a blistering tirade. Sports Illustrated's fine columnist, Greg Bishop, blasted him. Even Time.com went off on him. All mentioned his history of domestic violence and the fact that his former fiancee, sued him civilly last week after accusing him of assault and battery, among other things.

But when Mayweather met the media following Wednesday's news conference, he addressed his comments on the Rice situation. Immediately after the staredown ended, Mayweather was interviewed by Showtime's Brian Custer. The exchange below begins at 49:23 of the video.

Custer: Last but not least, one of your team said you wanted to clarify something. Obviously, you had spoken on the Ray Rice thing, and you said you were surprised [and] he should have stayed with a two-game suspension. But I guess that was before you saw the video?

Mayweather: Actually, I was just getting word from people that there was a video out there. I didn't know because I'm training for a fight. If I offended anyone, you know, I apologize. You know I didn't mean to offend anyone. And I apologize to the NFL and anyone else that got offended. I'm not perfect. I make mistakes, and I don't condone that at all.

Later, Mayweather sat with a group of reporters and again apologized.

"I don't condone what happened," he said. "If I offended anyone, I apologize.  I have this tough, rugged fighter in front of me and that's what I have to focus on. I'm not perfect, I make mistakes and I don't condone that at all."

Later, Mayweather wondered why he was even asked about Rice.

To me, it’s like this: if this is boxing, you should be asking me about me and Maidana. You shouldn’t be asking me about football. I’m not even an NFL player. I’m a boxer. That’s what I do for a living.

Mayweather can go on focusing on the fight, but the guess here is that media will continue to ask him about such topics.

Boxer Floyd Mayweather speaks at a news conference Wednesday in Las Vegas. (Idris Erba/Mayweather Promotions)
Boxer Floyd Mayweather speaks at a news conference Wednesday in Las Vegas. (Idris Erba/Mayweather Promotions)