Floyd Mayweather Earning 'King of Controversy' Title Ahead of Maidana Rematch

Floyd Mayweather began referring to himself as “Money” in 2007, but the pound-for-pound king might be in need of a change.

How does controversy sound?

Mayweather and controversy are inextricably linked. He’s a lightning rod, the undefeated, best fighter in his sport and the biggest financial attraction it’s ever seen.

So controversy is never far away.

Sometimes he finds it, sometimes it finds him and sometimes both ends of the thread meet.

Mayweather finds himself in the latter situation at the moment, drumming the beats of war with Marcos Maidana’s team ahead of their welterweight rematch next Saturday night. But, he's also fending off an unexpected blast of aggression from former friend 50 Cent.

The reemergence of “glovegate”—for lack of a better term—serves as the flashpoint for his latest agitation against Maidana, and in particular his trainer Robert Garcia.

“He’s [Garcia] supposed to be one of the best trainers in the sport of boxing, but I think it’s totally disrespectful to the sport of boxing for a trainer to be telling the guy [Maidana] be dirty. I don’t think it’s cool at all,” Mayweather said in an international media conference call.

“Robert Garcia is worried about the gloves. Not Maidana. Why is Robert Garcia worried about the gloves if he’s not fighting or he’s not trying to do anything slick that he shouldn’t be doing?”

That last part is particularly telling, and it emphasizes much of the subtle genius that has defined Mayweather’s career, at least from a marketing standpoint.

He’s planting a seed and at the same time using the shovel to get under his foe’s skin.

This is the battlefield of Mayweather’s choosing, and it’s one he’s made a career off traversing better than anyone else.

Controversy sells, and the more it sells the more money he makes.

But the wrong kind of controversy can push you off message, and that's one thing Mayweather won't allow. 

50 Cent—real name Curtis Jackson III and Mayweather’s erstwhile friend and business partner—made a ton of noise on social media last month by basically accusing the pound-for-pound king of being illiterate.

It was a topic Floyd couldn't avoid, but one he couldn't and wouldn't allow to be the story.

“I try to focus on Maidana. I don’t really focus on that. People can believe whatever they want to believe. Intelligence and education is two different things. I’m happy with my career and I wish 50 Cent nothing but the best,” Mayweather said.

“When I’m in training camp I try to focus on my training. You got to realize that the circus is for clowns and my job is just to focus on my job which is boxing. I know what I can and can’t do, so I could care less.”

Harry How/Getty Images

Contrasting his words to those of 50 Cent, Mayweather didn’t give off even the slightest hint of anger or angst. He remained calm, cool and collected throughout his remarks and seemed genuinely focused on his task at hand.

He said what he had to say, and he moved on. Nothing to see here.

So how can we assess this sordid affair?

Mayweather is used to being the one creating the message.

His entire empire, both as it relates to his personal career and his business ventures, including The Money Team and Mayweather Promotions, has been carefully crafted, constructed, branded and marketed.

Mayweather emphasized as much.

“Nothing can steer me the wrong way. I don’t focus on clown stuff. That’s for the circus. My jobs is to stay focused on boxing. I got to where I got by being smart, making smart moves and doing what’s best from Floyd Mayweather,” he said.

In short, this is his world and the rest of us are just living in it.

Talking about Maidana is his message.

It’s the controversy that sells and the one which he’s had a hand in helping craft.

“This is not the MMA. This is boxing. You guys noticed. I got tackled. The guy [Maidana] tried to knee me. I got a headbutt. I got hit with rabbit punches. I got hit with low blows, and the list goes on and on,” Mayweather said.

“He done a little bit of everything. That night I had to do two jobs. I had to be the boxer and referee.”

Maidana was able to be so successful—relatively speaking—in the fight because of his rugged style and his ability and willingness to sprinkle in a liberal amount of illegal and borderline tactics.

Tony Weeks was the third man in the ring that night, and he couldn’t escape being tarred with a bit of the controversy himself.

Many in Mayweather’s camp were unhappy he allowed Maidana so much leeway, and he’s been replaced with Kenny Bayless—who has refereed many of Floyd’s notable bouts—for the rematch.

“Tony Weeks is only human. He’s capable of having a bad night. It doesn’t matter who the ref is going to be. We just want to go out there and entertain and give people an exciting fight. I’m sure Kenny Bayless will be watching both sides extremely close,” Mayweather said.

“The job of the referee is to be fair. Not to lean toward my side or toward Maidana’s side. With the team meetings before the fight, hopefully, I’m pretty sure last time Leonard and my team didn’t know that Robert Garcia was going to tell this guy to go out there and be extremely dirty.”

Isaac Brekken/Associated Press

Maybe so, but being “extremely dirty,” to take Mayweather’s words, created the closest and most dramatic fight the pound-for-pound king has had in years.

The result—controversial only when viewed in terms of expectation rather than in-ring action—still remains a good selling point.

Maidana’s pressure forced Mayweather into some uncomfortable positions early in the fight. But by the second half it was vintage Floyd, catching and shooting, making the Argentine miss and making him pay.

“Just look at the fight. The fight is not close. He came out, he won the first round. I won the second round. He won the third and the fourth and from the fifth on he lost every round. I want to go out there and I guess get a knockout, win 12 rounds and look impressive but also look exciting,” Mayweather said.

And there’s the essential rub.

Mayweather, who doesn’t believe anything about the result in the first fight was controversial, desperately wants you to believe that it was.

After all, controversy sells.

Kevin McRae is a featured boxing columnist for Bleacher Report. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained firsthand.