Fight of the Century gives boxing another black eye
It was six to eight years in the making and a match-up that boxing fanatics have yearned to see for some time and when Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao finally got into the ring earlier this month, it ended up being an unmitigated disaster for everyone — except Mayweather and Pacquiao.
For starters ticket prices were outrageous to say the very least and Pay-per-view customers dropped $100 to see the bout at home. The fight was supposed to re-kindle interest in the once great sport of boxing.
But Mayweather’s 12-round victory succeeded only in doing the opposite. It gave boxing another black eye and was the biggest farce since an obviously outmatch past-his-prime Mike Tyson (who was always a street brawler and not much of a pure boxer) bit off a chunk of Evander Holyfield’s ear.
The Mayweather/Pacquiao showdown could’ve never lived up to the hype and everyone had to know that going in.
But both these fighters, both legendary champions, are well past their prime. This was a typical Mayweather victory as he fought a masterful defensive match. Pacquiao also attempted to fight his style. He tried to pound Mayweather. But Floyd, to his credit, didn’t yield. Mayweather, like him or not (and most people don’t because of his personal life) is a master boxer. That was the one thing that we could take away from this whole charade.
Pacquiao, who had everything to gain from a victory, was however a different story. He wasn’t active. He didn’t land punches by the bunches as he usually does.
He undoubtedly lost the fight even though he said he thought he was ahead late (how stupid can a man be?). Pac-Man got his butt kicked and his corner showed no sense of urgency.
And then, after Manny loses, he tells the media that he was seriously injured. He supposedly had a shoulder injury for which the Nevada Athletic Commission refused to permit him have an anti-inflammatory injection because he didn’t disclose his condition on the pre-fight injury report.
Cry me a river Manny!
If Pacquiao had won the fight, do any of us think the injury would’ve come to light?
Sure, he had surgery after the bout and he looks to be sidelined for some time after having a torn rotator cuff repaired.
But promoter Bob Arum and Pacquiao’s camp should’ve had the decency to call off the fight if Manny, a once proud champion, was injured. We’ve waited eight years for this, so what difference would another long wait make? In fact, most never expected this fight to come to pass at all.
Boxing would have probably been better off had it never happened.
The pre-fight crap was also garbage when you had Jimmy Kimmel accompanying Pac-Man into the ring dressed like a member of Run DMC. Then you had the Burger King and Justin Bieber entering the arena with Floyd Mayweather.
Most big sporting events don’t live up to the hype and any sports fan knows that.
But this spectacle did more than merely disappoint, it has perhaps permanently damaged the sport of boxing, if that was possible.
This event signified everything that people have hated about boxing since characters like Tyson, Mayweather, Arum and Don King became the faces of the sport.
