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"I was a battered woman," said the mother of his children.
By Alice Kelly — Written on Jun 04, 2021
Floyd Mayweather and Logan Paul’s fight could make the boxing legend $100 million, by his own estimations, but this lucrative return to the ring is dredging up his disturbing history of Mayweather's violence against women.
The boxer has a well-known history of domestic abuse allegations that have been consistently overlooked with each of his historic wins.
The line between what should happen in the ring and outside of it have become as blurred for Mayweather as they have for his opponents who use these allegations as fodder for trash talk.
Paul brought up Mayweather’s domestic abuse history on their pre-match press run as a quippy comeback when the latter poked fun at Paul’s suicide forest controversy in Japan.
“I know what you did in Japan,” Mayweather said before Paul jumped in with the insult.
"I know what you did to your wife! He's 50-0? He's not. He's 51-1 because he beat his wife too."
The response of cheers and hoots from the crowd showcased how Mayweather’s repeated violence against women has become just another chapter in his legend — and that feels profoundly wrong.
What exists as long-standing trauma for his ex-girlfriends has never stopped Mayweather from making millions from inflicting the same violence against boxing opponents.
Floyd Mayweather’s history of domestic abuse
Beginning in 2002, Mayweather has faced multiple charges for assaulting women all while on the rise to meteoric boxing success.
Floyd Mayweather pleaded guilty to domestic violence in 2002.
Mayweather pleaded guilty to two counts of domestic battery and one unrelated count of misdemeanor battery that occurred between 2001 and 2002.
The victim was Melissa Brim, the mother of his eldest daughter, who claimed that Mayweather punched her in the face during an argument.
The boxer was slapped with a suspended six-month jail sentence, a $3,000 fine, 48 hours of community service, and two days of house arrest after the incidents in question.
Mayweather attacked two women in Las Vegas in 2003.
A year later, Mayweather assaulted two women in a Las Vegas nightclub and was found guilty on two counts of domestic battery and given a suspended six-month prison sentence for each assault.
The women were friends of Josie Harris, the mother of three of Mayweather’s children. They testified that the boxer punched one of them in on the cheek and the other on the back of the head as she tried to help her friend off the ground.
In 2005, Mayweather was acquitted after allegedly kicking and hitting Harris outside a nightclub in Las Vegas.
In 2010, Mayweather assaulted ex-girlfriend Josie Harris.
In December 2011, Mayweather pleaded guilty to one count of misdemeanor battery domestic violence and no contest to two counts of harassment for hitting the mother of three of his children the year prior.
Police were called to the scene after his 10-year-old son witnessed the attack and ran from the house to alert security.
Harris, before her death in 2020, said the attack left her feeling ashamed.
"I was a battered woman. I felt embarrassed about saying I was a battered woman. I felt shame. I felt like it was my fault. What did I do? I didn't understand what a battered woman was at that time. Now I know I was in a very dysfunctional, hostile relationship and a victim of domestic violence."
Mayweather has remained popular despite these charges
Despite pleading guilty to most of these charges, Mayweather has consistently evaded any negative impacts on his career.
He has even tried to diminish the allegations that he beats women.
"Did I kick, stomp and beat someone? No, that didn’t happen. I look in your face and say, 'No, that didn’t happen.'” he told Katie Couric years later. “Did I restrain a woman that was on drugs? Yes, I did. So if they say that’s domestic violence, then, you know what? I’m guilty. I’m guilty of restraining someone."
In Mayweather’s eyes, lack of photographic evidence equates to exoneration as he has even said he should not be compared to Chris Brown or O.J. Simpson because there are no photos of his victims' injuries.
Boxing has no authoritative governing body that possesses the ability to meaningfully punish or exclude Mayweather from fights.
But there is something to be said about our willingness to make a legend out of someone who has paid lawyer fees and fines for domestic violence charges with money he has made from punching for a living.
Alice Kelly is a writer living in Brooklyn, New York. Catch her covering all things social justice, news, and entertainment. Keep up with her Twitter for more.