When it comes to any kind of reality television, there is always skepticism as to the just how real the show actually is. However, when a very serious sport such as boxing delves into the reality television world, you could be forgiven for believing in what you are seeing that little bit more. That would be wrong, though, according to current pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather.
Mayweather has long since been the biggest star of Showtime’s ”All Access” series, and before making the move to Showtime, HBO’s ”24/7” show. Mayweather is now claiming that ”All Access” is in fact staged, but it really should not be a surprise given the nature of the program. At the end of the day, it’s there to drum up hype and bring recognition to the fight in any way that it can and nothing more. The more attention the show can create, the more potential PPV buys the fight will get; and as everybody knows, ”Money” Mayweather is all about PPV buys and making money.
Not just reality TV shows, but any prerecorded show has the potential to be sliced and diced to fit the image, storyline and perception that any network wants to offer — whether it’s the reality or not. And that now seems to be the case with ”All Access” according to Mayweather, who was responding to concerns of the Nevada State Athletic Commission. The commission’s concerns were raised due to scenes which were aired in the second episode of the recent ”All Access” series which was depicting the build-up to Mayweather’s recent rematch against Marcos Maidana, which took place on Sept. 13.
The scenes in question shown friends of Mayweather seemingly smoking marijuana in the presence of the five weight world champion, and then, much more alarmingly, a single sparring session which allegedly went on for 31 minutes — not a 31-minute fight, a 31-minute round! There were no breaks and it was a fight until somebody quits, said Mayweather at the time after cheering on the fighters for what was clearly a dangerous amount of time to spar without any rest or taking in fluids.
Not only a licensed fighter and promoter in the state of Nevada, though, Mayweather also happens to be the executive producer of the ”All Access” show. Which is the reason why Mayweather specifically found himself in the firing line from the commission. It could well just be convenient for Mayweather to now say that the show is staged given the issues the commission has regarding the scenes, but there is probably an element of truth to the claims also.
The marijuana was not real, and fighters always have sufficient breaks between rounds in all sparring sessions at the Mayweather Boxing Club, Mayweather now claims. The show is unlikely to be completely staged because the fighters are actually training to fight each other, but certain aspects are obviously glorified for the element of promotion and TV. Like all reality shows, ”All Access” is scripted in certain parts, but it’s up to you to decide exactly which parts you believe and which parts you don’t.
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