Opinion: Floyd Mayweather Jr. 'Alienates' Philippine Media
05/03/2010 02:12
Floyd Mayweather, Jr. was caught on camera the other day shifting his anger over Manny Pacquiao by repeatedly punching a shirt with the Filipino boxer's image as he refused to allow a member of Philippine media to interview him during a press conference.
A respected sportscaster and member of Philippine media was reportedly banned from interviewing Floyd Mayweater during his press conference at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles to promote his fight with Shane Mosley on May 1 at the MGM Grand Garden Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Chino Trinidad who is covering the Joshua Clottey-Manny Pacquiao match along with other member of Philippine media were not allowed to interview Mayweather Examiner.com's Dennis Guillermo reports"
According to Chino, he waited in line together with another Filipino media personnel to be taken up the stage from the back by the publicists. He wondered why it was only he and fellow Pinoy Jason Pimentel remaining when Floyd and Shane were almost done. Finally when Chino got up the stage, he looked for Floyd immediately but was told by a lady named Kelly Swanson that he can't interview Floyd because he refuses to talk about Pacquiao close to the fight. Chino was baffled at the incident and that some people were crying out racism. He also told me that this was the first time in his many years of covering sports, from the NBA to the Olympics to all the many big events he has participated in, that he has ever been denied to interview somebody and is still in shock regarding the incident.
The popular Philippine sportscaster was surprised at the racist stance of Mayweather and thinks that his refusal to allow Philippine media to field some questions has something to do with Manny Pacquiao who has a pending defamation case against him.
Regardless though, to me, this is a SLAP IN THE FACE to all Filipinos. Not only has this guy repeatedly disrespected Filipinos by his ridiculous insinuations on top of his statements encouraging America to alienate themselves from the alien from the Philippines simply because he is not an American citizen, the report added.
In another development, Mayweather was caught on camera during the L.A. press conference, punching Manny Pacquiao's shirt repeatedly. With Floyd Mayweather, Jr's (40-0) hostile and light scuffle with Shane Mosley (46-5) in New York earlier this week, "Money" took his offensive combination to Manny Pacquiao today at a Los Angeles press conference.
Courtesy of ESNews, and on the video's 1:17 mark, Mayweather was shown throwing several punches at a defenseless Pacquiao t-shirt for several seconds.
(original article appeared @ Digital Journal )