80 Year Old Larry Merchant: No regrets for telling Mayweather “I wish I were 50 years younger and I would kick your ass!”

Tossed into the mix of the “sucker-punch” ending to the Mayweather-Ortiz fight was what turned out to be an epic confrontation between 80 year old veteran boxing announcer Larry Merchant and Floyd Mayweather, who got into it in a verbal confrontation that was probably more startling, and more memorable, than any of the great Howard Cosell – Mohammed Ali dustups from the 70′s — yielding among other things, a line that will go down in history and be repeated in many contexts for years to come: “I wish I was 50 years younger and I would kick your ass!”

The exchange took place in the hyper-charged atmosphere in the immediate aftermath of the fight , when 80 year old Merchant climbed into the ring and interviewed Mayweather as boos rained down on the ring from all sides.  Here is the transcript of the intereview:

Merchant: “You hear the crowd. A good part of it is in an uproar because they felt you took shots at him unfairly after you went together in the ring, made up for the headbutt and then you poked him. What’s your story?”

Mayweather: “First up, “I’d like to think God for this victory. Without God this wouldn’t be possible. I want to think my team. I got hit with a dirty shot [headbutt]. It’s protect yourself at all times. I hit him with a left hook, right hand and that ended the bout.”

Merchant: “So you’re saying that even though that it appeared that he wasn’t protecting himself and that it was part of the ceremony of apology, you unfairly took advantage. What do you say to those who say, ‘what did you do there?’ You were winning the fight and was in charge.”

Mayweather: “I just want to say to everyone that bought pay per view and came out to Las Vegas, thank you.”

Merchant: “I know you’re a promoter, but we’re talking to you as a prizefighter. Let’s take a look at the end of the fight and you describe.”

Mayweather: “We touched gloves, left hook, right hand and that’s all she wrote.”

Merchant: “So for you it was just an automatic response, let’s get it on with the fight?”

Mayweather: “It’s protect yourself at all times. He did something dirty. We’re not here to cry about what he did dirty or what I did dirty. I’m victorious. If he wants a rematch, we can get a rematch.”

Merchant: “You were in charge of the fight. You were aggressive and taking advantage.”

Mayweather: “You know what I’m going to do because You never give me a fair shake. So for that, I’m going to let you talk to Victor Ortiz. You know what, I’m through. Get someone else up here to interview.”

Merchant: “What are you talking about?”

Mayweather: “You never give me a fair shake. HBO needs to fire you. You don’t know s**t about boxing. You aint s**t. You’re not s**t.”

Merchant: “I wish I was 50 years younger and I’d kick your ass.”

Mayweather: “You won’t do s**t.”

Today Merchant gave interviews to a number of sportscasters and was generally unrepentant, if a bit rueful, over the exchange.

“I’m in a long line of media people that he feels have not given him as much credit as he gives himself.  The fans saw what they saw: A sucker-punch ending a fight. Now, was Mayweather within his rights to throw it? Absolutely. Should he have? In my opinion, no. It was a legal blow, but that’s not the way great champions do it. And the kid, Ortiz, has blame on him as well.   But now I’m interviewing Mayweather, and I think he’s absorbing the boos in the crowd, which are getting more explosive, more inflammatory, and he understands he’s not going to get all the credit he deserves again. And that’s what I think set him off, in my opinion.”

Does he regret it?

“I don’t regret much. If I were going to regret something, it wouldn’t be this. Some part of me was responding to the moment. I had no idea it was coming. In hindsight, I’m happy the way it came out.”

So are a lot of us.