Mayweather heard the clamor and there was probably no coincidence in his choice of opponent for his comeback fight. Marquez was Pacquiao’s biggest rival, the man who had nearly defeated him twice. (Instead, Paquiao owned one close win and one disputed draw against Marquez.) Mayweather could scoff at the notion that Pacquiao was to be taken seriously, but all his maneuverings – including the announcement of the Marquez fight coming just hours before Pacquiao would square off against Hatton – suggested he at minimum wanted to get people talking about the pair in the same sentence, even if it was only to steal from or piggyback on some of Pacquiao’s thunder.
For several minutes, Mayweather didn’t answer Kenny’s repeated inquests on why he wasn’t facing Pacquiao for his return bout.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwNt7wv_RN8
It wasn’t quite Jeremy Paxman vs. Michael Howard, the BBC interview where Paxman asked the same question 14 times in a row. But Kenny stayed after it. In the span of a few breaths, Mayweather said he’d fight whomever his advisers, Leonard Ellerbe and Al Haymon, put in front of him – then proclaimed he was his own boss.
Kenny didn’t set out to so explicitly confront Mayweather on Pacquiao, even though he knew it was a fight that had preoccupied fans because it would undoubtedly be the biggest matchup of the last decade, an opportunity for the sport to sneak back into the mainstream consciousness.
“It’s obvious that that was occurring, but there’s always a question of who are you going to fight. I usually lay out the possibility of opponents. I mentioned [Shane] Mosley,” Kenny said. “Marquez is an excellent fighter, a great fighter, but he was a lightweight. It seems like a logical question… If he answers it right away, there’s really not much else to say. But he wasn’t answering the question. It’s not in my head, you have to fight the guy. Just don’t tell me you’re fighting the best guy out there.”
Shortly thereafter in the interview, Kenny made what he considered a big mistake. Mayweather, now worked up into a lather, began shifting the focus to Kenny himself.
Now Mayweather had Kenny on the defensive, and was clapping at him while repeatedly demanding, in a series of queries, that he “answer the question!” Kenny compared it to a trademark trick of Mayweather’s in the ring – to fool his opponent into walking into a right hand. And he felt, he said, like Jersey Joe Walcott, whose face was rearranged in a dramatic photo at the moment of impact of a Rocky Marciano fist.
“He’s diverting me now and focusing on me,” Kenny eventually realized. “It’s not about my credibility. I thought, ah, I took the bait. Then I got back on point and kept asking the questions. It’s my job to bring it back.”
Despite taking Mayweather’s best punch, Kenny said he enjoyed the interview immensely. He was never worried that it had gotten too contentious.
“I’m laughing. To me it’s fun. It’s psychological warfare,” Kenny said. “I realize we’re in this kind of interview sparring session. He’s very good at changing speeds and throwing feints and getting you to lunge. I wasn’t trying to make him look bad. I was trying to get him to answer questions. I’ve had many interviews after that and they weren’t like that because he answers plainly, honestly and when he does that we move on.”
* * *
Not long after, with the Marquez fight still looming, Kenny appeared in Mayweather’s gym for an open workout. He said that once everyone at the gym saw him, they began to buzz about the potential for more fireworks.
When Mayweather caught a glimpse of him among the other media outlets, he directly engaged him and told him to fire away, which Kenny did. The whole time, Kenny recalled, Mayweather’s entourage taunted Kenny and cheered on Mayweather.
“All these guys from his gym, his uncle Roger, are yelling at me from the side. ‘You tell him champ. Don’t take nothing from this chump.’ I tell everyone to be quiet,” Kenny said. “Floyd says, ‘That’s my uncle Roger, you don’t say anything to my uncle Roger.’ I say, ‘I know who he is, I only have one camera, can I interview him later?’ It was a hilarious moment.
“If I’m being, fair and I’m doing my job properly I can’t worry about the repercussions. You can’t worry about the political ramifications,” Kenny said. “Nobody at ESPN said anything other than, that was excellent.
“I’m also aware that a good interview like that drums up some publicity for his event, which I’m all for. If these things drum up publicity and people are drawn to your fight — It’s a dangerous sport. I want you to make money.”
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