Garrick Mayweather Battles Dr. Naison in Tennis Charity Match

Bronx, N.Y. – A few days before flying to Kansas City where he'll strap on the shoulder pads and go head-to-head with defensive linemen, Fordham University senior offensive lineman Garrick Mayweather, Jr., picked up a racquet and went head-to-head with one of his professors, Dr. Mark Naison, on the Hawthorn/Rooney Courts. Hopefully things go better for Mayweather in Kansas City this weekend at rookie mini-camp as today he was downed by Dr. Naison, 6-2.
 
The charity match was proposed by Dr. Naison when he read a story in the New York Daily News (The Most Interesting Man in the NFL Draft) on Garrick and discovered that Garrick was a tennis player in high school. Naison then challenged Mayweather to a match with the loser having to donate to the winner's charity.
 
A consensus All-American on the offensive line for the Rams in 2015, Mayweather played #1 Doubles and #1 Singles in high school, winning a regional championship in doubles his junior year. He has continued to play tennis on and off, but has not played in a competitive match in four years.
 
Dr. Naison also had a tennis background, having attended Columbia University from 1962-1966 were he was captain of the Columbia tennis team, playing #1 singles at the school during the 1965 season. In 1966, he played #2 singles and came in third in the Eastern Intercollegiate Doubles Championship
 
After he moved to Brooklyn in 1976, Dr. Naison was the Brooklyn public parks tennis champion for seven straight years, beating all comers without losing a set.  He played first doubles on a team that won the New York City team tennis championship in USTA 4.5 tennis.
 
After the 6-2 loss Mayweather will be writing a check to the Bronx African American History Project (though Naison is willing to wait until Mayweather signs his first NFL contract).  However, Naison decided that he will still write a check to Mayweather's charity, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.