Mayweather Waiting for Father’s Day

Play time is just about over for Floyd Mayweather Jr., the free-spirited junior-lightweight prospect who took home a disappointing bronze medal from the Atlanta Olympics.

Professionally, Mayweather moves to the front of his class with his Sept. 6 HBO fight against Louie Leija: Mayweather, considered the most talented member of the ill-fated 1996 American Olympic team, is the first to jump up to a scheduled 10-rounder.

And personally, Mayweather’s wild ways are in for a serious alteration come October, when his prodigal father, Floyd Sr., is due out of a halfway house after a jail sentence on drug charges.

“We’re going to have some adjusting to do,” said Floyd Jr., 20, who has moved from Michigan to Las Vegas and is being trained and looked after by his uncles, Jeff and Roger Mayweather, both of whom remain active fighters.

Jeff Mayweather, sounding a bit exasperated by the efforts to settle down the young Floyd, is more to the point: Wait until your father gets home.

“He has a different kind of respect for his dad than he has for me and Roger,” Jeff Mayweather said. “We’re his uncles, we can’t punish him or we can’t really come down on him.”

Despite Mayweather’s rambunctious nature, he has led an impressive professional run by the U.S. Olympians, who remain undefeated as a team in the pro ranks despite garnering only one gold (David Reid) in the games.

Mayweather is 9-0 with seven knockouts (four in the first round), and has fought a far stiffer brand of opponent than, say, Reid.

Jeff Mayweather argues that Floyd’s easy transition to the pros shouldn’t be surprising: Floyd Sr. trained his son to be a pro. Jeff started his career in 1988, and has faced Oscar De La Hoya and Jesse James Leija. Floyd Sr. never fought for a title, but fought Sugar Ray Leonard in 1978.

And Roger is a three-time world champion.

“Fortunately for him, I think he’s been blessed with a little bit of everything from all of us,” Jeff Mayweather said. “It’s strange, because out of our family, I had the ability to move on my feet the best, and his dad was a great defensive fighter. And everybody knows about the power Roger has in his in right hand.

“But Floyd has the defensive skills--and that power in his right hand and his left. That’s something none of us had.”

The plans now call for Floyd Jr. to spend some time getting reacquainted with his father, then spend 1998 marching toward a world title.

Said Floyd Jr.: “I honestly believe if things go right, I will be the first world champion coming out of the ’96 Olympic Games. I don’t want to rush, but I think I can do that.

“And when I win a world title, it’s going to be hard for someone to knock me off. I’m going to reign like a legend, like [Julio Cesar] Chavez, undefeated for a long time.”

FIVE MORE YEARS

The long-range future for De La Hoya has gotten even longer: In a departure from his loose plans to retire at 26 or 27, the 24-year-old World Boxing Council welterweight champion said this week he figures to fight for five more years.

“I’m just re-motivated, rededicated,” said De La Hoya, nearing final preparations for his Sept. 13 pay-per-view fight (and $9 million payday) in Las Vegas against veteran Hector Camacho. “I’m looking so forward to Camacho and the next one and the next one. I don’t know . . . I’ve changed. I want to do history in boxing.”

Part of the motivation, De La Hoya says, is hearing Roy Jones Jr., his rival for the mythical title of best pound-for-pound fighter in the world, mull retirement.

“Ever since I started hearing about Roy Jones saying he doesn’t get paid enough, threatening everybody he’s going to quit--that’s how I made up my mind I’m going to fight as much as I possibly can for the next five years.”

De La Hoya is scheduled to fight Wilfredo Rivera on Dec. 8 in Atlantic City, N.J., (moved from Madison Square Garden) then might travel to Japan in early 1998 to face mandatory challenger Patrick Charpentier.

QUICK JABS

Forum Boxing celebrates its 15th anniversary today, as Jesus Chong, who could emerge as one of its mainstays, defends his newly-won World Boxing Organization light-flyweight title against veteran Melchor Cobb Castro. The Forum keeps on rolling, despite some marquee-name losses: It stages a solid lightweight bout between Hector Quiroz and Carlos “Bolillo” Gonzalez on Sept. 27 at Caesars Lake Tahoe, and gives heavyweight prospect Ed Mahone his first main event fight on Sept. 8 at the Forum. Mahone, who had been trained by Alex Sherer before Sherer’s tragic death a few weeks ago, has signed to work with respected trainer Bill Miller.

The much-anticipated Ike Quartey-Terry Norris bout, which was tentatively set for Oct. 17, is definitely a goner. Norris is waiting for one of two richer options: A mandatory defense of his WBC 154-pound title against Felix Trinidad, who is moving up from welterweight, or a Spring fight with De La Hoya, if De La Hoya doesn’t fight Pernell Whitaker. Time Warner was willing to guarantee Quartey, the IBF welterweight champion, and Norris, who would’ve moved down to 147, $2 million apiece, a figure ultimately rejected by both men.

Let’s be clear: It’s not about fairness, it’s about the biggest payday. The recent publicity surrounding a possible light-heavyweight tournament is being created by the America Presents operation, which happens to promote two unremarkable, fairly unmarketable fighters, Michael Nunn and William Guthrie, and wisely is trying to manipulate a way for them both to get huge paydays against Jones. As the division’s only superstar, Jones has the right to fight either, both, or neither, and anybody saying that it besmirches the name of boxing if he won’t play by America Presents’ rules is being naive.