EDITORS NOTE, 6/11/2012: It has been brought to our attention that the alleged Twitter account and related tweets may be fake.
Manny Pacquiao doesn’t have it very easy these days. From his alleged comments about gays that were misquoted and exaggerated to his recent match against Timothy Bradley which ended in a controversial split decision making his first loss in seven years, he now is on the receiving end of a round of racist ridicule from Roger Mayweather.
Not to be confused with Floyd Mayweather Jr., Roger is Floyd Jr.’s uncle and trainer, and apparently the racist gene runs in the family. Floyd Jr., who posted less-than-flattering comments on his Twitter account about Jeremy Lin, hasn’t made any comments so far about the fight because he is currently serving time in jail for domestic violence. Here are some of the comments posted on Twitter directed at Manny Pacquiao from Roger Mayweather (courtesy of Lauren B):
Though trash talk has been a curious practice in boxing between opponents, racist comments don’t help. Racist comments don’t just show ignorance and unacceptable bigotry, they denote a complete lack of creativity and absolutely no dignity. Worst of all, Roger Mayweather’s comments don’t just upset Pacquiao, but Filipinos as a whole, and as you can see in the comments, directed toward all Asians because we “all look the same.”
What immediately comes to mind is Joel Ward, a hockey player for the Washington Capitals who ended up being on the receiving end of racist tweets from several twits for helping his team beat the Boston Bruins that eliminated them from the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. Ward was supported by a strong public backlash (which included the Bruins) leading to disciplinary action taken against people who had posted the hateful messages.
In comparison to Roger Mayweather’s comments, one has to ask why there isn’t a strong reaction against Mayweather for his abhorrent language and attitude the way there was for Joel Ward. Let’s hope we don’t have someone pulling a Jenny Hyun racist rant in reaction to this. In the words of Rodney King: “can’t we all just get along?”
[Screencaps courtesy of Lauren B.]
