On the first week of November I went out to do my duty as an American citizen, and lost my damned wallet. Panic set in and I took all of the prudent measures to make sure my bank account wasn't emptied out. This is a fear we all have in today's age of information crimes, until one thing gave me the solace some of you are blessed enough NOT to have. Who the hell would want to be me? Whoever has my wallet is stuck with a license (featuring a disturbingly handsome man) and a bunch of plastic that won't buy the imposter anything but embarrassment. However, it is still a fear and I wish I'd never had to endure it all. Watching Manny Pacquiao beat the breaks and transmission off of Antonio Margarito got me to thinking. Historically when future boxing fans (yes there will be a future) look back at this period who will they not appreciate enough because of Manny? What fighter should have been the standard bearer in this post-De La Hoya era? Who has had his identity stolen by Pacquiao's success fair or not?  

Calling Floyd Mayweather 

Usually identity thieves steal your identity and run your name in the mud, but imagine if they stole it and did "you"� better than you. Imagine seeing your credit rating improve and your bills prioritized and paid off by someone who stole your damned identity. Boxers are all about identity and that is one of the reasons they find it hard to walk away. If I am not the champ, then who will I be? Floyd Mayweather flirts with the idea of being someone else, a "mogul"� but the truth is he would not be known to us if he were not a special prizefighter. He really is similar to Julius Erving in that his prime years were not fully appreciated by the mainstream public, by the time he was a huge star, the clock was ticking. One would think when a fighter or any athlete reaches a summit (as did Mayweather in 2007) they would fight like hell to stay there. Atop this summit Floyd, like Lebron James, reveled in the peripheral trappings, the "idea"� that his tweets and statements are a part of being legendary. Meanwhile Manny Pacquiao, to the approval of many, carries the banner of the sport and is widely accepted as an All Time great. That should be Floyd Mayweather's title, but the price to pay for seizing back his identity is written in blood. Blood he isn't used to shedding.  

When someone becomes you and starts doing your job better than you, the critique you have is beyond vicious. Name a man who can admit his wife's new husband is better with his children than he is. Listen to Floyd's uncles and father and you hear the tone of deadbeat dads complaining about the men who feed their children. Floyd Mayweather, with nothing but big named opponents simply went out and did what he does; he outclassed them. Manny by comparison obliterates the same people, changing their face and career trajectory. People retire after Manny is done with them; they walk away from Mayweather with their health and an eye toward another payday. Memo to Shane Mosley; do not sign with Top Rank with an eye towards Pacquiao because it won't end well. Mayweather told us for years it wasn't his job to deal with tough champions like Margarito and Cotto, Pacquiao did it for him. Floyd Mayweather should be on Jimmy Kimmel's couch sharing new sides of his personality, but Hollywood's verdict is already in. Boxing= Pacman. Your identity thief is going to parties where everyone knows you, yet they want him to stay. He follows behind you pretty much taking your place in history and all you can say in retort is look at how much money I have?

Floyd Mayweather should ask his uncle about Pernell Whitaker or fighters he felt were unfairly rated above him. Watch how old fighters interact with one another, especially the ones who battled for supremacy in surrounding divisions. There's still a pecking order, the fights they engaged in against fellow greats were not just about money but identity. Ali got off that stool one more time because he couldn't stomach the idea of Frazier being who he thought he was. And Ali didn't love money any less than Mayweather, yet his strength was in his trademark phrase; "I am the greatest." The first two words "I am"� have energy, they manifest themselves in all of our lives at one time or another.  The person that steals your identity turns out to be your superior, when you show up at familiar haunts people ask you when you'll run into him again. You answer in vague threats and racist ignorance; at least the Mexican fighters sincerely understood that their identity is being threatened by Pacquiao. I use the word "era"� because time flies, and soon Floyd will be 50 and the time we are experiencing now? "History."� We will change, but great fighters are "champ" forever.

Someone once said that history is written by the winners, and Manny Pacquiao is writing with a pen Floyd is sure he has on his person somewhere. Only in boxing can you face your identity thief and take back what he took from you. Only in boxing can you define yourself once and for all as the fighter the public believed your identity thief to be. We can't confront the people who take our names and social security numbers, we can only respond to the havoc they create. Manny Pacquiao took the last decade from Floyd Mayweather in the eyes of boxing writers and many fans. He is the Nike athlete, and American goliath, the sponsorship home of the athletes (Kobe, Lebron) that reduce Mayweather to fandom.  He is fast moving towards a political career and the global icon is heading towards the door. Unlike us, Mayweather has the power to do something that many of us never get to do. Tap him on the shoulder: Excuse me Mr. Pacquiao; I believe you have something that belongs to me? But the fear is that Floyd may have too much money to even know there was something taken from him. 

First, isn't it ironic that the injury Margarito sustained in his fight against Pacquiao was the same one suffered by Rashad Holloway in his sparring sessions with Tony? After round 8 Margarito's trainer, who confessed in 24/7  that he didn't have the heart for battle, decided he was obligated to let Antonio get his face caved in like a "real"� Mexican.

I thought Fernando Vargas' presence was a bad omen; he is the patron saint of senseless beatings. His manager, Sergio Diaz Jr., (probably a real Mexican), is now claiming he wanted to stop the fight after round 8 but he allowed 4 rounds of slaughter. As a black man I've learned that every time I hear the words "real brotha" there's a good chance that there is a "real stupid"� behavior behind it. Antonio Margarito should never have had to "prove" anything to Mexican fans, he may be suspect but he is a warrior. Fans are great, and our support can make you or break you, but more importantly we can't do what you do. I challenge the Mexican fans to look inward and ask themselves why the pointless long-term damage of beaten fighters is so important to them. Fans usually vicariously believe acts like Margarito's is evidence that "they"� -as a group- are more "manly." Well, guess what? You're wrong!  But it does make you a lowlife. And I just saved money on my car insurance with Geico.  

Much respect to Jerry Jones. He may be a crappy GM but his treatment of Antonio Margarito and his family was pure class. Now hire a real GM Jerry! you don't know a damned thing about talent evaluation.