TWO FEMALE JOURNALISTS have claimed they were banned by Floyd Mayweather from his long-anticipated fight against Manny Pacquiao because they have been critical of his history of violence against women.
Both Rachel Nichols, a sports anchor for CNN, and Michelle Beadle of ESPN took to Twitter before the fight to spread the news:
Later, giving further detail, Nichols said:
In an email dated April 23, I was told I would only be credentialed for the run-up events through the week, but in bold, italic letters the email stated “you do not have any access Saturday to any services or events.” A CNN producer revisited the issue with the Mayweather camp on April 29, confirming to Mayweather’s publicist that I would be in Las Vegas, and the publicist replied that I would still be denied a fight night credential. I was told the same thing when I arrived at the credential office in person on May 1, by two separate officials, in front of several other people.
Nichols recently grilled the boxer about domestic violence allegations against him.
Mayweather has faced a number of allegations of violence against women since 2002. The boxer has pleaded guilty to two of those incidents and in another was convicted only to have the charges dismissed four years later.
In the most recent incident, he got a 90-day prison sentence for hitting his ex-girlfriend in front of their two children. It is reported one of his sons ran out of the house and alerted a friend who then called police.
ESPN’S Beadle also apologised recently for failing to ask Mayweather about this issue in an interview she did with him.
“I made a huge mistake during ESPYs in an interview w/Mayweather,” she tweeted at the time. “I also was not aware of just how horrible his record w/women has been over the years.”
Last night, Mayweather’s public relations representative contested the claims that the women had been banned from the fight:
However Sports Illustrated obtained a copy of the seating chart which specifically left Nichols out.
Mashable reports the journalists’ credentials were eventually re-approved but Beadle said she had already gone home and Nichols said she wound not attend the fight after the debacle.
“I will not attend the fight. I will also not let fear of retaliation prevent me from asking the tough questions the public deserves answers to in the future.”
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