The Sportsnista

Quite a bit has been said about the women Floyd Mayweather surrounds himself with. His often volatile relationships with ex-girlfriends, and mothers of his four children have made international headlines. We’ve even been exposed to the “sister-wives”, an outrageous entourage of mostly strippers, who have been seen doing washing the champ in his personal bathtub, and rolling blunts on Showtime’s “All Access” program (He later claimed that the marijuana wasn’t real). Very little has been said about an ordinary mom who found herself in an extraordinary circumstances.

I spent the better part of four years partnering with Tasha Robinson-White to construct her memoir, aptly titled Right Hand to the Champ:13 Lessons that Changed My Life. In it she recounts how working with the champ for 12 years profoundly affected both her career and life. She was a part of his inner circle and became a friend of his family.

The two met in 1997 while the entrepreneurial woman was promoting a Billboard Music Awards party in Las Vegas. Having worked under the tutelage of industry vets at La Face Records in Atlanta, Tasha leveraged her experience and contacts to lure major celebrities including Garth Brooks, Usher, and Queen Latifah to appear at her event. That evening, she was called to the front door to allow entry of an underage Floyd Mayweather and his friend. She really didn’t know much about him at the time. As Tasha put it, “He was a kid trying to crash my party. He looked like a boy dressed in his daddy’s best macking clothes.” Mayweather would approach Tasha weeks later to see if she was interested in consulting with him on how he could get into the promotions business.

Their partnership was born more so out of his respect for her experience, than her knowledge of him as a boxer. Mayweather was an up and coming, fighting in smaller venues including the Grand Olympic Arena- an old Olympic training facility in Las Vegas. He was 12-0 at the time having just defeated Angelo Nuñez. His fledgling record label, Philthy Rich, was also in need of a make-over. Tasha was a piece of the champ’s business puzzle that he wisely aligned himself with.

It’s hard to believe, but at that time Floyd “Money” Mayweather wasn’t quite the brash personality that we know him as today. Tasha describes him as possessing a boyish charm which was endearing and made him extraordinarily likable.

Convinced the champ could become an entertainer. She committed to working alongside the boxer in a capacity to make both of their dreams come true. As she put it, she was “Team Floyd, while others were Team Money.”

The two of them agreed to create a new record label focused on R&B music to capitalize on the lucrative cross-over market. She became CEO of Mayweather Music and Founding President of the Floyd Mayweather Jr. Foundation. Being part of the inner-circle of one of the most controversial figures in sports history wasn’t without its challenges. The environment was often downright ugly and destructive at times.

Find out more about how this mother of two found herself evading gunshots. Plus, other challenges working with Floyd Mayweather. Click to read part 2