Saturday night was an historic night in Pay Per View history. For the first time ever, a whole hell of a lot of people paid a bunch of money to watch two dudes play patty cake in a boxing ring. Usually a boxing ring features boxing (an almost extinct sport where two people basically try to kill one another with their fists), but leave it to Las Vegas to push the envelope. Here's some exclusive footage of MAY-PAC:
Lets be honest, this is hardly a "hot take" by me. If you're reading this blog, that means you've probably exhausted all your other means of being unproductive at work. That means you've already read 900 other people criticizing the Mayweather-Pacquiao "fight" for its shortage of fighting. But it's the truth. It shouldn't be possible for two of the best "fighters" in the world to go toe-to-toe for 12 rounds and neither of them look like they got hit when it's over. For those of you who are Mayweather apologists, I get it: That's how Floyd has fought for his entire career. That's how he's become the most profitable athlete on the face of the Earth. And that's a clear reflection of the state of boxing right now. It's just downright boring.
One thing nobody is talking about is the recent fight for the heavyweight title between Wladimir Klitschko and Bryant Jennings. Assuming you didn't watch it (I did), let me tell you that it was equally uneventful. Klitschko is 39 years old. He's held a piece of the heavyweight title since 2006. He doesn't throw body shots. I mean literally, the guy does not go to the body ever. He jabbed Jennings for 36 straight minutes and won a unanimous decision for his 23rd consecutive title defense. That's a longer streak than Muhammad Ali or Larry Holmes ever reached. He's now 64-3 in his career. Here's the difference: His three losses have come at the hands of Lamon Brewster (who?), Corrie Sanders (who?), and Ross Puritty (wait...WHO?). Ali lost five times in his career to Trevor Berbick, Holmes, Leon Spinks, Joe Frazier and Ken Norton. I'd tell you who he beat of note, but the list is way too long. Holmes lost 6 times in his career to guys named Evander Holyfield, Mike Tyson and Michael Spinks. These dudes could FIGHT.
Quick side note which is completely irrelevant to this post: Klitschko is engaged to the little girl from "Remember the Titans." He had already been divorced from his first wife for two years when "Remember the Titans" hit theaters. I can't even hate though, look at this miniature, female football coach all grown up
Sheesh.
Anyway, all I'm saying is that times have changed. Is boxing dead? No. Don't listen to anyone that tells you that. Boxing ain't going anywhere. There will always be the Don King's of the world that promote the hell out of some young, up-and-coming fighter, and we will continue to pay to watch these guys fight in hopes that they may be the next big thing. But we are hardly in the Golden Age of the sport.
And one last thing: In case you were wondering, THIS is what a fight looks like:
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