Floyd Mayweather And 50 Cent Cause Late Night Havoc

Boxing superstar Floyd Mayweather and rapper 50 Cent brought Indianapolis to a standstill with an extraordinary Super Bowl stunt.

Mayweather, who announced this week that he will take on Miguel Cotto in his next fight on May 5, created further congestion in the already jammed downtown streets in the early hours of Saturday morning.



The WBC welterweight champion was repeatedly driven on a loop through the heart of the city, along with 50 Cent and members of his entourage, in a large bus decked out with Mayweather body paint and depicting his image and Twitter handle.

It was when the bus stopped for Mayweather to lean through an open window and interact with fans that things began to get chaotic, with the oversize vehicle blocking traffic and generating extra headaches for the police.

By the time journalists arrived on the scene, the bus was at the corner of Main and Meridian, right in the center of the city. 50 Cent also engaged with fans and signed a handful of autographs.

"Every time it stopped, the traffic would immediately begin to back up because cars couldn’t get around," said onlooker Gregg Kiesler, 23, from Indianapolis. "For the most part Mayweather stayed well inside, but a couple of times he leaned out and spoke with the fans.

"It didn’t take long for the cars to be backed up in every direction and there were times when the roads were packed in every direction and no one could move."

At one point Mayweather, decked out in a bright red jacket bearing the slogan "Money Team," moved to the front of the bus, clutching a huge wad of paper, leading some fans to hope he would repeat his stunt from 2010 in New York when he flung cash into a waiting crowd.

"If he goes and does that (throws the money) then we would have to do something about it," said a police officer, who declined to be named. "It could create a riot.

"Already journalists asked them to move over to the side or to move on at a sensible pace and they pretty much told them to (expletive)."


It appears Mayweather’s slow drive through town was an attempt to capitalize on the increased exposure surrounding the Super Bowl to enhance interest in the Cotto fight. Although Cotto is a tough character and Mayweather will have to step up to 154 lbs, there remains a serious tinge of disappointment among boxing supporters that a superfight between Pretty Boy and Manny Pacquiao has still not been made.

Mayweather has been outspoken in his criticism of Pacquiao, and the way in which the Filipino star allows promoter Bob Arum to have a heavy say in his selection of future opponents.

A fight between the two is the contest everyone wants to see, but Mayweather’s future fights may be affected by his impending 90-day jail sentence for battery.

It appears unlikely the pair could set a match before early next year, allowing for training camps, preparation and promotion.

And Mayweather’s incentive for fighting Pacquiao may be tempered by the fact that he can rake in around $25 million per bout -- no matter who he fights.