WBC welterweight champ Floyd Mayweather no-show at Obama campaign event
LAS VEGAS -- WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather was a no-show Wednesday at a campaign event for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama after questions were raised about the boxer's previous legal troubles.
Mayweather was billed by the Illinois senator's campaign as the co-host of the launch of African Americans for Obama, an organizing group in Nevada.
The announcement led media reports to note that Mayweather's achievements in the ring have been clouded by battery convictions and accusations of domestic violence.
Soon after representatives for both the Democratic senator and the fighter sought to minimize Mayweather's involvement in the night club event.
Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather's top adviser, said Mayweather didn't attend because he was "playing catch-up on training" after spending weeks as a contestant on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars." Mayweather is scheduled to fight Ricky Hatton in Las Vegas in December.
Ellerbe said the reports on Mayweather's legal past were not a factor.
Shannon Gilson, a spokeswoman for Sen. Obama, D-Ill., said the campaign never asked Mayweather not to participate.
Gilson described the 30-year-old fighter as one of many black supporters of Obama in Nevada.
"He's simply a supporter. He's not on our steering committee. He's not an adviser to the campaign," Gilson said. "We know Floyd Mayweather from his philanthropy and his work with at-risk children in Las Vegas schools."
Ellerbe described the fighter was an admirer of Obama, but not a formal supporter.
"Floyd looks at Obama and he has a great, great respect for all of his accomplishments. He's at the top, and Floyd's at the top," Ellerbe said. "But Floyd doesn't support anyone. Floyd doesn't do politics."
In 2004, Mayweather was convicted of misdemeanor battery for punching two women at a Las Vegas nightclub the previous year. He was given suspended prison sentences, $1,000 in fines and ordered to complete impulse control counseling.
In 2005, a jury acquitted him of a domestic violence charge, a felony, after his accuser, former girlfriend Josie Harris, changed her story. He also was convicted of misdemeanor battery for a bar fight in Grand Rapids, Mich.