There is an attitude in the world of sports which prioritizes success above all else. It is perhaps the greatest, yet potentially the most dangerous, mentality that our society possesses.
Athletes are told to ignore all the noise, all the doubts, and all the haters. They are trained to have this irrational confidence in themselves to prove to everyone that they will succeed no matter the circumstances; no matter the hardships. It is this mentality which the Rocky Balboa archetype was built on–the scrappy underdog who has no chance in hell but who shows that with enough heart, anything is possible.
It is a classic example of the American dream, one that shows how society is willing to collectively “clean the slate” for anyone who has shown that they have succeeded. We reward these athletes with a hero’s celebration and a handsome stipend.
However, when I first heard that Floyd Mayweather was set to retire and may as well be regarded as the greatest boxer of his generation, it reminded me of why I feared this mentality so much. It isn’t so much that I doubt the description in itself; Mayweather outclassed our very own Manny Pacquiao using the methods he had mastered over the years. I will not argue about the ethics of his methods here, but there is no denying that the man has reached the top of the boxing world.
Rather, what truly frightens me is the fact that society has allowed a man like Mayweather to even reach this status of “greatness.” Various convictions of domestic abuse spread throughout his famed boxing career mar the Mayweather name. Well and good, the American judiciary system has been able to label his crimes and we are left to suppose that the sentences he received were enough to redeem himself.
However, the sums of fines Mayweather has had to pay for his crimes pale in comparison to the amount he has earned en route to topping Forbes’ list of highest paid athletes in the world from 2012 to 2014. This shows that while we may not view Mr. Mayweather with a clean slate, we sure still paid quite a sum to watch his fights.
When we separate the way we regard someone’s success with that of their morality, we cross this line of a Machiavellian justification; we show that indeed, the end may justify the means. In the world of sports, an athlete’s talent will get him to the top and all the controversies that come along with it will be weathered out under the roof of his expensive mansion.
In a way, this is a commentary on how we deal with bad press–all the haters, if you will. We will probably never relate to the circumstances of an all-time great athlete, but we all will surely have experiences wherein we face the criticism of others.
I have heard the reassurances that all we have to do in this world is shake off the doubters and be who you are. But I implore that we sift through these criticisms and understand where they are coming from instead of just blindly ignoring them. What people have to say nowadays may be dumbfounding most of the time, especially on social media. But some voices are worth listening to and we ourselves do not have a monopoly on what is right or wrong.
