Floyd Mayweather: Ronda Rousey on Ring magazine cover makes boxing look bad

As Ronda Rousey prepares for her upcoming title defense against Holly Holm at UFC 193, the UFC bantamweight champion has been busy with numerous media obligations that are outside of the normal opportunities for a UFC fighter.

She’s done everything from hosting "SportsCenter" to being a guest columnist for Maxim. The one that may have turned the most heads though was her landing on the cover of historic boxing publication, Ring Magazine.

Rousey became the first MMA fighter to grace the cover of the “Bible of Boxing” in the publication’s storied 93-year history. The move has drawn the ire of many boxing fans who are upset that a mixed martial artist is covering the magazine, especially when Rousey is facing a former boxer-turned-MMA fighter in Holly Holm.

Among the critics is recently retired pound-for-pound king of boxing Floyd Mayweather. The war of words between Mayweather and Rousey has been intense over the past year and Mayweather couldn’t resist chiming in on his rival crossing over to be featured on a publication that has a long history with the sport that has helped him become the richest athlete in the world.

"Well, you know, congratulations, but you know the sport is starting to look bad when a female fighter from a whole other sport is on the cover of a boxing book," Mayweather said to FightHype in a recent interview.

Instead of taking Rousey being on the cover at face value and simply understand that the publication is probably just looking to add new subscribers, Mayweather took it a step further and suggested that Oscar De La Hoya – who acquired Ring Magazine eight years ago – might be trying to snare away arguably the most popular fighter in MMA from UFC president Dana White.

“He has no fighters but Canelo [Alvarez].” Mayweather said about De La Hoya’s Golden Boy Promotions.

It’s no secret that Mayweather and De La Hoya have been at odds for years and Mayweather will take any openings given to shoot a jab at his rival. “Basically, it's like he's trying to steal her from Dana White.”

This is the latest salvo from Mayweather about Rousey as the two have traded barbs through the media ever since Mayweather suggested that he “didn’t know who he is” when asked about the UFC’s first and only women’s bantamweight champion. This surely won’t be the last verbal barbs exchanged between these two.

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