by David P. Greisman

Keith Olbermann’s long-standing  “World’s Worst” segment carried over from his political show on MSNBC to his sports show on ESPN2. And on last night’s episode, Olbermann took fire at a pair of notable people in boxing.

Olbermann’s “bronze” went to actor Jeff Daniels for trolling Kansas City Royals fans on Twitter. His “runner-up” went to retired heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.

His “World’s Worst” for the evening? Floyd Mayweather Jr.

Olbermann tore into Mayweather for the welterweight and junior middleweight champion’s comments on NFL player Ray Rice being released by the Baltimore Ravens and having his suspension lengthened by the league after footage came out of Rice punching his then-fiancée, now-wife at an Atlantic City casino earlier this year.

“Listen to this idiocy,” Olbermann said, recounting Mayweather’s statement to press. He then pointed out some of Mayweather’s own cases of domestic violence, including the jail term Mayweather served in 2012 after pleading no contest to a domestic violence charge, as well as the counts of domestic violence Mayweather pleaded guilty to in 2002 and a misdemeanor battery conviction in 2004 involving two women in a nightclub.

“Mayweather showed unexpected empathy for the real victim here,” Olbermann mocked. “Ray Rice.” (Mayweather later apologized for his comments on the Ray Rice story.)

“Floyd likes to hit people,” Olbermann said at one point. “Especially women who can’t defend themselves.

“But no, you go ahead and watch the Mayweather fight Saturday night and then take a 90-minute shower and spend all day Sunday rubbing your hands and saying, ‘Won’t wash off! Won’t wash off!’

“Floyd Mayweather, surprisingly enough taking the domestic violence perpetrator’s side against the woman and against any accountability for the act — today’s worst person in the sports world,” Olbermann said.

Olbermann’s nomination of Tyson included a mention that the former fighter had met with Rob Ford, the embattled mayor of Toronto whose addiction issues led to international headlines. Olbermann noted that Tyson called Ford “the best mayor in Toronto’s history.”

The broadcaster then noted Tyson’s outburst at a Canadian television interviewer who had questioned whether Tyson’s rape conviction from two decades ago might have a negative effect on Ford’s re-election campaign.

The full segment can be seen at: http://bit.ly/keithfloydtyson

Pick up a copy of David’s book, “Fighting Words: The Heart and Heartbreak of Boxing,” at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsamazon or internationally at http://bit.ly/fightingwordsworldwide. Send questions/comments via email at fightingwords1@gmail.com