The so-called fight of the century is now history. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. can finally take his place among the boxing greats after defeating Manny Pacquiao via unanimous decision Saturday night and improving his record to 48-0.
Boxing experts and sports media alike will have you think that this definitively put an end to one of the greatest debates of not only this decade, but perhaps the 21st century. They will tell you that Mayweather easily won what was arguably a hard fought contest between the two best fighters of his division.
Yet they are only perpetuating one of the biggest rip-offs in boxing history, at the expense of the ignorant masses that include you and I. There is no doubt that Mayweather won the fight. But to say that his win was decisive, or that the fight was nearly entertaining as the build up, was complete bull****.
Fact of the matter was Mayweather knew all he had to do was stay at arm's length from the challenger and he would retain the title, and that was what he did. 'Money' would occasionally land a jab and a hook just so he could claim 'I told you so' to all the media and his doubters after the fight. It was clear, however, from the opening bell, that he was never going to be the aggressor.
And as for Pacquiao, he put up a valiant fight. Or did he. It appeared that for several rounds he got in some decent head/body shots on the champ that could have put this fight in question. But if you were watching at home, you had to take notice how little these shots affected Mayweather, that he was kind of laughing at them. Post fight Pac-Man would say he won the fight, but did so with a huge grin on his face. When was the last time you saw the challenger 'happy' he actually lost a unanimous decision?
Truth be told, both camps were advised not to take risks, that they had huge paydays coming, and the worst thing they could do is risk serious injury. So they both played conservative, taking a few big shots making it look (at least to the thousands on hand in Las Vegas) like it was a hard fought contest. But go back and watch your digital recording of the fight, and you'll realize that I'm right.
The whole thing reeks, and while The Money Team (and Pacquiao's wallet) were the big winners, there were two losers on Saturday. The biggest losers were the fans, some of whom shelled out thousands of dollars just to see these two dance around a ring for 36 minutes.
The biggest loser, however, might be the entire sport of boxing. In desperate need of a match whose popularity would rival that of Mixed Martial Arts, Mayweather-Pacquiao was billed as the fight to save boxing. But, in the end, what ended up being a 12 round snooze fest may have ultimately killed the sport. Because while a rematch between the fighters may garner at least half the attention the first fight did, there may never be another boxing match as popular again. Of course, for someone who has lost most interest in boxing anyway, at least I have a legitimate reason not to watch it again anymore.
Boxing experts and sports media alike will have you think that this definitively put an end to one of the greatest debates of not only this decade, but perhaps the 21st century. They will tell you that Mayweather easily won what was arguably a hard fought contest between the two best fighters of his division.
Yet they are only perpetuating one of the biggest rip-offs in boxing history, at the expense of the ignorant masses that include you and I. There is no doubt that Mayweather won the fight. But to say that his win was decisive, or that the fight was nearly entertaining as the build up, was complete bull****.
Fact of the matter was Mayweather knew all he had to do was stay at arm's length from the challenger and he would retain the title, and that was what he did. 'Money' would occasionally land a jab and a hook just so he could claim 'I told you so' to all the media and his doubters after the fight. It was clear, however, from the opening bell, that he was never going to be the aggressor.
And as for Pacquiao, he put up a valiant fight. Or did he. It appeared that for several rounds he got in some decent head/body shots on the champ that could have put this fight in question. But if you were watching at home, you had to take notice how little these shots affected Mayweather, that he was kind of laughing at them. Post fight Pac-Man would say he won the fight, but did so with a huge grin on his face. When was the last time you saw the challenger 'happy' he actually lost a unanimous decision?
Truth be told, both camps were advised not to take risks, that they had huge paydays coming, and the worst thing they could do is risk serious injury. So they both played conservative, taking a few big shots making it look (at least to the thousands on hand in Las Vegas) like it was a hard fought contest. But go back and watch your digital recording of the fight, and you'll realize that I'm right.
The whole thing reeks, and while The Money Team (and Pacquiao's wallet) were the big winners, there were two losers on Saturday. The biggest losers were the fans, some of whom shelled out thousands of dollars just to see these two dance around a ring for 36 minutes.
The biggest loser, however, might be the entire sport of boxing. In desperate need of a match whose popularity would rival that of Mixed Martial Arts, Mayweather-Pacquiao was billed as the fight to save boxing. But, in the end, what ended up being a 12 round snooze fest may have ultimately killed the sport. Because while a rematch between the fighters may garner at least half the attention the first fight did, there may never be another boxing match as popular again. Of course, for someone who has lost most interest in boxing anyway, at least I have a legitimate reason not to watch it again anymore.
