Trash talk and boxing go hand-in-hand. But in a videotaped rant, boxer Floyd Mayweather didn’t just insult rival Manny Pacquiao’s prowess in the ring, he mocked him for being Asian.
“Once I stomp the midget, I’m gonna make that mother___er make me a sushi roll and cook me some rice,” bragged the African-American Mayweather. Apparently, it’s of no consequence to Mayweather that sushi is Japanese and Pacquiao is Filipino, as Mayweather seems to believe that Asian ethnic groups are interchangeable.
He later called Pacquiao a “f____t,” using homophobia to stereotype Asian men as feminine, and threatened to “cook that motherf___er up with some dogs and cats.”
Mayweather’s rant is textbook racist, and the fact that he’s black doesn’t let him off the hook. But visitors to websites such as the Huffington Post, which posted video of his tirade, are defending the champ. They argue that Mayweather probably doesn’t really hate Asians and that his rant against Pacquiao isn’t as offensive as Muhammad Ali’s rants against his competitors.
Such points are irrelevant, though.
