Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Andre Berto are fighting against each other at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, Sept. 12. Mayweather invited Jen Welter, the first female NFL coach to watch the boxing match up close. Welter is well aware of Mayweather’s history of domestic battery and said that she does not “support his past.”
Mayweather, 38, offered Welter, 37, ringside seats to Saturday’s match. Welter, who is “very anti-domestic violence,” sees Mayweather’s invite as an opportunity for him to change. Upon reading an online article by TMZ Sports about the invite, Welter addressed the rumors on Twitter.
“Yes the rumors are true. Looking forward to seeing money in action. Thanks @FloydMayweather @MayweatherPromo,” wrote Welter.
Welter, an assistant coach for the Arizona Cardinals has a doctorate in psychology. She considers Mayweather’s invite as “a step in the right direction” for him. She told her Twitter followers that “rejection would not improve his stance” and that “when someone reaches out, he has a chance to be reached.”
A photo of Jen Welter taken on January 2014.
“Some people don’t see it this way, but in my mind, knowing that this has been his history and something people continually criticize him for, for him to reach out to me, of all people,” said Welter in an interview with USA Today on Monday, Sept. 7.
Mayweather served two months of jail time for a misdemeanor in domestic battery in 2011. The boxer admitted guilt to hitting Josie Harris, the mother of his three children. Koraun, his son who was ten years old at the time testified that he saw Mayweather hit Harris in their home.
“A woman who made it in men’s professional football, with NFL guys, and the NFL has been dealing with some of these problems in terms of DV and was someone who was able to reach out to them, work with them, and earn their trust.”
