This Saturday, the fight almost seven years in the making will
finally take place as the undefeated Floyd Mayweather steps into the
ring with multiple division champion, Manny Pacquiao. The political
hurdles that are too often seen in the current boxing landscape almost
prevented the bout from happening and controversy persisted as recent as
last week, as a disagreement about ticket distribution delayed tickets
to the live event going on sale to the public. As ridiculous as the
ticket fiasco is, it should be no surprise, considering that almost
every aspect of the fight was a potential road block for the contest to
be signed during the past few years. However, the fight is official and
it's already sold out, but why is the fight finally going to happen?
Floyd
Mayweather seemed hesitate to agree to fight Manny Pacquiao in the
past, which promoted much speculation that Floyd was more concerned with
preserving his unbeaten record than a mega fight with the Filipino
star. Was Mayweather ducking Manny? It's possible, but at the time,
there were notable fighters to challenge him and he strategically chose
when to fight certain challengers to ensure his undefeated streak
remained, while questions about the potential Pacquiao fight persisted
after each Mayweather victory. Floyd, who is a very smart business man,
embraced the role of the villain during his career and part of the draw
for his fight was that fans were paying it see if he would be defeated.
Ultimately, the general public realized that Floyd was only going to
fight competitors he knew that he was favored to beat and while the
pay-per-view numbers were strong, there were various reports that
Showtime lost money on a few Mayweather fights because the buy rates
didn't cover the amount of money he making for his contract. Basically,
the audience doesn't want to pay $60 for glorified exhibition fights
where Floyd uses his spectacular defensive skills to win a lopsided
decision against fighters that are skilled, but no real threat to him.
In
my opinion, the contest was inked because without a credible opponent,
Floyd wouldn't have made the record payday he had for previous bouts and
after the Pacquiao fight was discussed for several years, the buzz
around it began to decline. In truth, this is a fight that should have
happened five years ago and there was a certain "if it's going to
happen, it has to happen now" aspect to it, as interest in the match up
was dwindling because many fans assumed it just wasn't going to happen.
As mentioned, Mayweather is a businessman and he wasn't going to leave
the money for the most profitable fight in history on the table so he's
willing to risk his unblemished record for it.
In many
respects, the story writes itself as both competitors are on different
ends of the spectrum in terms of their public perception. The brash
Mayweather flaunts his wealth and he knows his role as boxing's top heel
only brings him a better payoff after each fight. Manny Pacquiao, who
grew up in poverty, is an elected official in his home country and he
has done extensive charity work to help the citizens there. Floyd
Mayweather also had five domestic violence incidents since 2002 with the
most recent in 2011, which resulted in him serving two months in jail
in 2012. There's no doubt that Floyd Mayweather is a tremendous boxer,
but the domestic violence charges prove he's a coward.
So,
who wins this battle of boxing's two biggest stars? Mayweather is
favored to win and considering that he's undefeated, he should be given
the edge prior to the bout. Floyd is a defensive technician and his
ability to make his opponent miss while counter punching is what makes
him successful. Obviously, speed is the key to the formula and even at
38, he remains sharp in the ring. Manny is known for his speed as well,
but also brings a powerful punch to the ring, which was seen in his most
recent fight with Chris Algieri, as Pacquiao sent the challenger to the
canvas six times on his way to a one sided decision win. In my view,
speed is the key to the entire fight and it could quite possibly be the
determining factor. If Floyd can avoid Manny's punches, there will be
another Mayweather win in the books, but if Pacquiao can match speed
with Floyd, the boxing world could see a lost on his record. If I had to
guess, (and this is more of a guess than anything) I have to say I
think Floyd Mayweather will get the decision win, but hopefully, I'm
wrong because I want to see Pacquiao get the victory.
Some
have called this "the fight of the century," but I wouldn't go that
far, considering a lot of that is based around the hype of the bout.
However, it's certainly the biggest fight of the past decade and the
only comparable contest was the Mike Tyson vs. Lennox Lewis fight in
2002. With a price tag of $89.99 on pay-per-view, Mayweather/Pacquiao
will set records and it's definitely an event the entire sports world
will be watching, but will this clash boost the sport of boxing as a
whole? The effects of Mayweather vs. Pacquiao remain to be seen, but
there's certainly an array of talent that will be showcasing their
skills in the following weeks so hopefully it will generate more viewers
towards the sport. Regardless, it's good to see that on a weekend with
various sports scheduled, including the NFL draft, that boxing will take
center stage and hopefully it will be an entertaining fight.
No comments:
Post a Comment