Columnist Dean Juipe: Mayweather Jr. struggles to stay humble

Dean Juipe

Thursday, Aug. 9, 2001 | 10:59 a.m.

Dean Juipe's boxing notebook appears Thursday. His sports column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or 259-4084.

Asked how he gauges his Oct. 6 fight at the Paris Las Vegas with mandatory challenger Jesus Chavez, World Boxing Council junior lightweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. makes a quick reply.

"It'll be a tough fight," he said before adding a wry smile and a discreet tap on his questioner's leg, as if his response was more rhetoric than reality.

In truth, Mayweather doesn't think Chavez has what it takes to beat him.

"He must have done something to get to this point, but I don't think he has a chance," he said. "It's just that somebody has pumped him up."

Mayweather is 26-0 with 19 knockouts and will be making the eighth -- and perhaps final -- defense of his 130-pound title. He's ready to move to 135 if a fight with fellow junior lightweight champion Joel Casamayor doesn't develop.

Mayweather doesn't see Chavez upsetting his plans.

"I know his weakness," Mayweather said. "He can't bang with me and he can't hurt me."

Yet Mayweather is trying to stay reverent, and not just for promotional reasons.

"I have to say it's going to be a tough fight," he said. "If I brag and boast and be flamboyant, people won't like it and they'll boo me.

"Yet Naseem (Hamed) can do the same things and people cheer for him like crazy. I don't understand it, so I'm just trying to stay humble."

If he's perplexed out of the ring, Mayweather is anything but when he's inside the ropes. Extremely quick, sufficiently strong and battle tested, he rates among the finest fighters in the world.

"My credentials speak for themselves," he said of his perfect record, which includes victories over Genaro Hernandez, Angel Manfredy, Goyo Vargas and Diego Corrales.

Yet he has had lingering hand troubles and he hasn't had a boxing glove on since a decision win over Carlos Hernandez May 26 in Michigan.

"I haven't tested them out yet," Mayweather said. "They've been getting a good rest. I think they'll be 100 percent."

He hopes improved wrapping minimizes his discomfort and alleviates his problems.

If he gets past Chavez, Mayweather will either see a fight with Casamayor fall into place or he'll go to 135 and take on WBC champ Jose Luis Castillo. (Castillo, 43-4-1, will fight on the Mayweather vs. Chavez undercard and take on Carlos Gerena, who is 36-3.)

"A fight with Casamayor could be tough to do because he fights for Showtime and Floyd is with HBO," said Mayweather's promoter, Bob Arum. "That's a big stumbling block and I don't see the world going crazy for a fight with Casamayor, so I think we'll go after Castillo and then (Acelino) Freitas and (Paul) Spadafora at 135."

Arum, of course, gives Chavez a shot at upsetting the bandwagon.

"He's the only guy at 130 who could beat Floyd," he said. "He's tenacious, he's a great body puncher and he doesn't get discouraged.

"There's no taking him for granted."

Arum is, however, taking it for granted that Mayweather will be exonerated from a recent legal entanglement. Back on June 19 at the Club Utopia in Las Vegas, Mayweather allegedly struck a fellow patron, Greg Bedford, over the head with a champagne bottle.

Bedford has filed a civil suit and is said to be seeking $350,000 in damages.

"Floyd has an excellent lawyer and we've been assured he had nothing to do with the incident," Arum said. "They've talked to a lot of witnesses and everybody says the other guy started it by grabbing a chain that was around Floyd's neck.

"The other guy might have gotten hit over the head, but it was by someone in Floyd's entourage and not by Floyd himself.

"I don't think anything will come of it."