30 little-known facts about Floyd Mayweather Jr.

30. Mayweather has met with Chechen dictator Ramzan Kadyrov

Anyone even remotely interested in MMA, boxing and combat sports in general needs to immediately follow Bloody Elbow’s Karim Zidan, who tirelessly investigates the intersection of politics and sports. And while the boxing media, for the most part, conveniently ignores the fact that Floyd Mayweather Jr. was hosted by Ramzan Kadyrov, the repulsive dictator of the Chechen Republic, Zidan has doggedly pursued the story of how Kadyrov uses combat sports as propaganda.

As Zidan notes, Kadyrov strives to “enhance his personal image as the embodiment of Chechen ideals and traditional masculinity, and thus, secures his de facto reign over the Chechen Republic.” Kadyrov has made the preposterous claim that there are no gay men in Chechnya (adding that if there are any, they should be taken to Canada), and he also made highly disturbing remarks about violence toward gay men in his Republic on an explosive installment of HBO’s Real Sports.

So how did Floyd Mayweather Jr. end up getting feted in Chechnya? Here’s an excerpt from Zidan’s piece:

"So how did Mayweather, an undefeated American boxer with little reason to be 11,000km away from home, end up sharing a vehicle with an accused assassination mastermind [Adam Delimkhanov], and lunch with a dictator [Kadyrov] and his cronies? It began when the boxer ventured to the Russian Federation to attend the grand opening of a new boxing gym in Moscow, and to coach an accompanying masterclass. According to reports, Mayweather was paid over $86,500 for the day’s effort. Shortly thereafter, he headed to Chechnya at Kadyrov’s invitation."

Mayweather has not taken any sort of critical stance against Kadyrov’s oppressive regime, opting to focus exclusively on combat sports and a potential partnership with Kadyrov in that realm. Highly disturbing, indeed.