Well fight fans, the “Fight of the Century” has come and go and while the general feeling from the public is that this fight was a dud of the most epic proportions the fact remains that nearly 4 million people ordered the PPV and countless others made an effort to witness this fight. For all the hype and drama being used to build up this fight, the actual bout was a bit of a let down. But, to think that Mayweather and Pacquiao would enter into a fight along the likes of Diego Corrales vs Jose Luis Castillo, then you must not be paying attention to the manner in which Floyd Mayweather fights.
Yeah, it was far from a night of sustained fistic entertainment but there were some items from the mega fight that I found pretty enjoyable. Likewise, there were some things that I hated.
LIKES
The fight for the most part was lackluster (to put it kindly), however, in the 11th round Mayweather came out aggressively and looked to be trying for a knockout. This aggression lasted less than half the round but in a fight that put most people into a trance the break in jab-and-grab was much needed.
The drunken stars on parade giving interviews. Seriously, how drunk was Tom Brady? Or Reggie Miller and Charles Barkley? You could convince me that Jim Gray was deliberating trying to get the celebrities to make asses out of themselves. Shout out to the celebs that manages to keep it together long enough to string a coherent thought out. Cheers!
Cable powerhouses HBO and Showtime have done business before (Tyson vs Lewis) but this fight was as bipartisan as one could have hoped. I liked the mix of analyst and color commentators and the fact that the PPV stuck with each network’s strengths. Prefight analysis was Showtime heavy with the actual fight calls going to the best in the biz with HBOs team. I thought Al Bernstein’s addition to Jim Lampley and Roy Jones Jr was great.
Nothing will ever top the spectacle that is a major boxing PPV card. With this being the pinnacle of hype it was nice to see boxing in the national eye again. Boxing isn’t dead, and this fight is no barometer of the health of the sport. Still, hardcore fight fans beamed with pride as everyone in the world gave their beloved sport legitimacy.
DISLIKES
The fight itself was a dud. Not that it was the worst fight in the history of boxing as some people are quick to claim, it was just that no fight could have ever lived up to the hype. The fight was not horrible, but it was far from entertaining. Mayweather is not going to risk any chance of being hit cleanly and his jab-clinch combination made the rhythm of the fight extremely irritating to the scores of casual observers.
The undercard. Oh…my…God! What a horrendous undercard. The undercard was so bad you longed for the days of Top Rank’s circus that featured Butterbean and Mia St. John. At least those bouts captured some level of imagination. No, this was pure shit on the undercard and did nothing to further the sport. In fact, a case could be made that the fighters toiling on the undercard saw their stock drop as a result of the sheer number of people who were thoroughly unimpressed with their bouts.
In the same vein that I applauded HBO and Showtime mixing up their commentary team for this event, I did find it grating that we had to have two ring announcers. With Michael Buffer representing HBO, Jimmy Lemon Jr. representing Showtime, the fighter announcement just felt off. Guys, we only need one announcer. Michael Buffer is the gold standard for big fights so the reigns should have been turned over to him for this event. Sorry Jimmy.
The price. Yeah, boxing fans and the general public can both take solace in the fact that they got fleeced equally by this “Fight of the Century.”
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