Floyd Mayweather always walks to the ring with an entourage, but this weekend he’ll have a very special guest.
Former Arizona Cardinals coaching intern Jen Welter, who became the first woman to hold any coaching job in the NFL this preseason, accepted Mayweather’s invitation to sit ringside during Saturday’s bout against Andre Berto. And per TMZ Sports, she’ll be walking the undefeated boxer to the ring, too.
Some have questioned Welter’s choice to attend, as Mayweather has been charged with assault on four women in his career and served two months in jail in 2012. But Welter sees it as a positive thing.
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Welter has a master’s degree in sports psychology from Boston College and a Ph.D. in psychology she earned online from Capella University, so she knows what she’s doing. She told KPNX-TV in Arizona on Thursday she’s using this as an opportunity to reach out, and she’s going to make sure Mayweather won’t use her to make himself look better.
“You can only be used if you allow yourself to be used, and I am not allowing Floyd Mayweather to use me,” Welter said. “First and foremost, I think it’s a beautiful thing that the discussion surrounding this fight it highlighting the need to look at domestic violence in our country.”
The former Cardinals coaching intern also said that she doesn’t see what good turning Mayweather’s invitation down would have done.
“If everybody just writes him off for his past, then are we ever giving anybody in this country a chance at redemption to be better in the future?” Welter said. “And I have the opportunity to talk to him, so why wouldn’t I take that?”
Thumbnail photo via Matt Kartozian/USA TODAY Sports Images
