“Fight of the Century?”

It’s been dubbed the “Fight of the Century” but while it may be the most lucrative boxing bout in the history one would have to think that more classic affairs such as Chavez vs Whittaker or Ali vs Frazier would carry the prerequisite historical weight for such hyperbole. Though, make no mistake, the eyes of the world will be upon Las Vegas this Saturday night when Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao meet in a contest years in the making. For a niche a sport as boxing is these days high profile bouts like this stir a passion in people that cannot be matched by any modern sport; well except maybe soccer.

With both fighters past their respective primes (though not by much) it’s hard to fathom why this fight was not made sooner. Such is the nature of boxing where the fans demands fall on deaf ears as greed remains the prevailing truism. But the fight is here and now and while fight fans are being fleeced to new heights imaginable ($100 PPV rate amongst other things) the fact remains that this is a fight one dares not miss.

I will let the boxing pundits of stature comment on the age old “who will win” angle that accompanies these types of fights. Fightland’s Jack Slack has a great technical breakdown of Mayweather and Pacquiao and is well worth a read. Additionally, my old blogging buddy Tim Starks has some exceptional fight coverage on this event. Or, shoot over to Deadspin and read Nolan Hamilton’s sad breakdown of being the great unwashed in Vegas for fight week.

In any event you are probably oversaturated with the non-stop news stories on this fight. I can’t say I have give much viewership to all the behind the scenes specials. It’s not that I’m apathetic to the fight. Hell, I’m just as geeked as the next man. But I do have issue with everyone fawning over boxing when the vast majority of viewers Saturday night have not watched a fight in over a year. Now, everyone is an expert in Eddie Futch’s mold.

So, who do I think will win Saturday night? I’m going with Mayweather via one-sided twelve round decision. My heart will long for a Pacquiao upset but the reality is that Mayweather is the better all around boxer.

Fight of the Century? Nah. This fight is all about the Benjamins. One can only pray that we get our money’s worth.