30 little-known facts about Floyd Mayweather Jr.

7. Yes, Mayweather is literate

In 2015, rapper Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson took a different approach to what he termed the “ALS/ESL” Ice Bucket Challenge. In an Instagram video, he challenged Floyd Mayweather Jr. to flawlessly read a single page from a Harry Potter novel. If successful, Jackson would donate $750,000 to a charity of Mayweather’s choice. While certainly comical, it struck some as a step too far, as illiteracy is an extremely personal and sensitive subject.

Of course, Mayweather can indeed read, but some of his struggles have been documented. What’s incredible, though, is that Mayweather seems to inspire the kind of vitriol that devolves into low blows. Other than 50 Cent, Ronda Rousey has also publicly insulted Mayweather with an illiteracy taunt.

Being illiterate or functionally illiterate is an extremely serious matter and has a direct correlation with poverty and crime. Floyd Mayweather Jr. deserves criticism from a myriad of angles, but making his literacy struggles public, especially when accusations are flippant and done in the interest of scoring social media points, serves no purpose. Naturally, Conor McGregor accused Mayweather of being illiterate during their “World Tour,” which served as one of the many low points during their four-city schoolyard standoff.