Philippine Asian News Today Vol 20 No 10 | Page 28

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PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY May 16 - 31, 2018
Mayweather shows his true
heart in Manila
SPECTATOR
By Al Mendoza
THE whirlwind visit
of Floyd Mayweather Jr. to
Manila just very recently
created a stir but not of the
negative kind.
What stood out in his
visit that left an indelible mark
on us was the innate character
of the legendary boxer with
the enviable record of retiring
unbeaten in 50 fights.
I think that mark will
never be surpassed, even
equaled perhaps, in this
generation—or even beyond.
Now, again, if you are
Floyd Mayweather Jr., you
personify fame and fortune.
With his treasure chest alone,
he can virtually do anything,
except, of course, to part the
Red Sea.
Early on, Mayweather
loved challenges, dreamed
big dreams.
He became a boxer
because he wanted to be the
best, which he achieved—
spectacularly.
Becoming quickly as a
multiple world champion, he’d
end up practically achieving
everything—almost—that he
had dreamed of.
For, by compiling
a 50-0, win-loss record,
Mayweather broke the 49-0 of
his fellow American, the world
heavyweight champion Rocky
Marciano.
Like
Marciano,
Mayweather also retired as
an undefeated world boxing
champion, making them
the only two boxers to hang
their gloves without a loss in
professional boxing.
But Marciano died not
long after his retirement,
failing to enjoy his wealth as
he perished in a plane crash
during a mercy mission.
In contrast, Mayweather
has been living a life befitting
a king for quite sometime
now.
Seemingly, Mayweather
embraces the saying, “If you
have it, flaunt it.”
If basketball star LeBron
James’s net worth is $400
million, Mayweather won’t be
far behind.
They have one striking
commonality:
They love
cars.
From sports cars like
Ferraris, Lambos, LFAs and
Porsches to luxury rides like
Rolls Royces, BMWs, Benzes,
Cadillacs and Lexus high-
ends, name it, they’ve got it.
James’s collection is
that many that I may run out
of space naming them all
here. Mayweather’s garage is
bursting in the seams, too.
But how about this?
Mayweather has a
personal jet and James none.
It is this Gulfstream
aircraft worth $3 million
that Mayweather used in
his five-country fun-filled
tour that brought him to
Dubai, Singapore, Indonesia,
Malaysia and, finally, the
Philippines.
No, he was not an
ambassador or something on
a goodwill voyage representing
America or President Trump.
He just loves doing things not
the ordinary, normal, way.
Thus, he jetted in
at dawn at Pasay City’s
NAIA
airport
practically
unannounced and, before we
knew it, he’d sneaked out in
lightning-speed to his base
in Las Vegas, Nevada, some
three days later.
“He immediately fell in love with our country and
he promised to come back
as soon as he can,” said Tet
Andolong, who was practically
mother hen to Mayweather.
“Contrary to popular belief,
Floyd is a gentleman of the
first degree, a very warm
person and is with a soft heart
to the max.”
While in Davao’s world-
famed Pearl Farm beach/hotel
resort for his final destination
after having visited El Nido,
Palawan, Mayweather got
interested in an old, bent
woman seated beside a
boutique shop weaving a
table runner. Tet’s story:
“How long would it take
you to finish that, Ma’am?”
Mayweather
asked
the
weaver.
suit up for Gilas Pilipinas in
the next qualifying windows
for the World Cup, but still
uncertain is his status with
his mother team.
“We are communicat-
ing with FIBA, seeking clari-
fication in connection with
Kiefer’s playing for the NLEX
PBA team,” said Al Panlilio,
the president of the Sama-
hang Basketbol ng Pilipinas
(SBP), on Monday’s press
conference.
The SBP has already
sent a letter to FIBA regard-
ing the situation, and Ravena
is hoping that they receive a
favorable response.
“Mahal ko ‘yung Gilas “About two months, Sir.”
“How much would one
cost, Ma’am?” Mayweather
said.
“Six thousand and five
hundred pesos, Sir,” the lady
said. “But for you, Sir, you
can have it at five thousand
pesos.”
Mayweather dug his
hand into his pouch, plucked
out some crisp bills and gave
them all to the lady. Then he
walked away.
Before
leaving,
Mayweather told Tet: “Tell her
(the weaver) it’s all hers.”
Shaking and trembling
in the knees, the weaver was
speechless, her mouth agape,
jaws dropping as she clasped
five hundred-dollar bills.
“What shall I do with the
money, Madam?” she asked
Tet.
“It’s all yours, Ma’am,”
said Tet. “Come, let’s have
them changed into pesos at the cashier.”
The weaver got roughly
25 thousand pesos.
“This is more than half of
my earnings per year, Ma’am,”
she told Tet, still shaking,
trembling in the knees. “God
is alive, indeed.”
********************
An honor to be Lexus
Team Captain again
I’VE covered many races
already both here and abroad
to include the Formula One
in Kuala Lumpur, Singapore
and Shanghai, to name only
a few.
But the coverage would
soon expand into me being
a race driver, then a team
official.
Soon enough, I‘d
become a team captain of a
prestigious car company in
the most awaited road rally
every year.
That was in 2010, when
Ray Butch “Elvis” Gamboa
flagged off the “Sampaguita
Rally” after revivals of the
fabled event in 2001 and
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