It isn’t so much racism as societal perceptions.
Black men who are loud, cocky and bold are always going to be seen as villains. White men who act the same are often put on the pedestal to the point they can run for President.
In Mayweather’s case people would point out with some validity that part of the reason he was treated as the villain was because of history of domestic abuse, but even before that came to light he was still cast as the villain.
Here is how Mayweather himself described the contrast and how he feels in racism still exists in boxing.
If Andre Ward is over there doing business with HBO, then why didn’t they ask Triple G, “Are you going to move up and fight Andre Ward?” They never ever asked him that. Why? They’d rather see Andre Ward get beat than see Triple G get beat. I’ll say it again, I’m not racist, but racism still exists.
Ronda Rousey, you know, I think she fought somewhere like 11 or 12 fights, which is not a bad thing. Laila Ali went undefeated and was dominating too. After Ronda Rousey fought I think 9, 10, 11 fights, it didn’t even take that long, she got all types of endorsements, movies, and everything. Laila Ali did the same thing in better fashion. Ronda Rousey, she’s a good looking woman when she put it on. Laila Ali is a drop-dead gorgeous woman; I mean a naturally beautiful woman and can kick ass, but you never heard them [the media] saying when she had I think somewhere around 10, 11, 12 fights that she was the baddest woman to ever fight on the planet.
And what’s so crazy, I don’t really know the McGregor guy; never seen him fight. I heard his name actually from one of the runners that works for our company; a little kid named Ken Hopkins, he’s a runner and takes care of a lot of the daily business. Whatever we need, he takes care of. He’s a cool little kid, I like him, and he does MMA. He told me about the guy McGregor. They say he talk a lot of trash and people praise him for it, but when I did it, they say I’m cocky and arrogant. So biased! Like I said before, all I’m saying is this, I ain’t racist at all, but I’m telling you racism still exists.
Racism of course exists and it definitely exists in fighting sports. But, it is normally not as black and white as Mayweather makes it seems. Andre Ward did a lot of the damage to himself. Laila Ali was a female boxer and female boxing was never as popular as UFC, especially now. So, it isn’t as simple as just racism, but he does make some common sense points.
If McGregor was black he would be viewed differently, that is just how the world works and the key is just to be aware of it and try to treat people the same way no matter if they are black or white.