The FIGHT is on (five years late?)

[Mackeyser]

But that just makes him a better version of Winky Wright.

He sure as hell isnt an all time great.

All-time greats FIGHT.

Mayweather ran in this one. In the biggest fight money wise of all time, he was content to hold, run and point out a boring ass win.

I was afraid he would turn it into the Tour de Las Vegas and he pretty much he did.

What's funny is if he thinks he won this fight, then by the exact same judging criteria, Oscar De La Hoya should have won in their fight.

Im just really disappointed. Mayweather had a chance to BEAT Manny and fight a legacy defining fight. Instead he ran and set boxing back immeasurably by "selling" everyone a fight he never intended to fight.

Well, great. He got his. Who's gonna buy the next PPV after that fraud when MMA fighters leave it all in the octagon every night.

Had Mayweather beat Manny the way Sugar Ray beat Hearns, I'd be lauding him with all due praise. But this borders on a heist. It was disingenuous to sell it the way he sold it and then fight it as cowardly as he did. Yeah, cowardly. NOBODY paid part of that $500M to watch that crap fight.

Mayweather is no Sugar Ray. He's no Hearns. He's no Hagler. Best ever? What a crock. He's a super talented defensive fighter who cracked the financial puzzle of big fights. But that doesn't make him great.

Anyway, I'm gonna watch comedies tonight and scrub the awful taste from my brain. I guess I had really hoped for not only a really great bout, but a bout that would be good for boxing going forward. Of course, this basically served Mayweather and I think we'll see it screwed boxing...and the fans who support boxing...badly.

 

[RhodyRams]

didnt watch it, didnt care

but I am the only one who won money on it in the sportsbook. Really thought more folks would lay some bets, but only myself and @Athos put coin down on the fight

 

[dieterbrock]

Fight was great for the first 5 rounds. Then Mayweather controlled/won the last 7 rounds. I was rooting for Pac man but saw it as 117-111, Pac won 3 of first 5 rounds
For a guy known for throwing a lot of punches, Pacquiao almost appeared gassed and threw about half of what you'd have expected him to throw

 

[Mackeyser]

I'm more mad at myself than anything else.

I never believed Floyd before and always saw through his gloss, but he got me this time and I hate when anyone gets over on me.

And I know HOW he did it, which makes it worse. He actually sold this fight like he cared about his legacy...

Well the ONLY legacy left from that flaming bag of poo will be the amount of money earned. NOTHING special happened in that fight. Nothing.

And when PPV numbers suck over the next few years, they can thank Floyd.

Just last week, I watched Demetrius Johnson in UFC 186 and THAT was worth $100.

Not every super fight can be magic, but this was all on Floyd.

 

[Mackeyser]

The one GREAT thing about the fight was the broadcast team. The HBO and Showtime teams integrated FLAWLESSLY. They were FUN to listen to, they bantered back and forth well, and other than the obvious, which is that they couldn't hold Floyd to task for not bringing action in the biggest MONEY fight of all time (no way any announcer was going to crap on a $500M broadcast)

So, Jim Lampley, Al Bernstein and the entire broadcast crews did a FANTASTIC job.

They brought it and were a broadcast crew worthy of a $5ooM event.

No complaints especially considering all of the crap they went through in the negotiations...

 

[Mackeyser]

I guess I'm not the only one who was upset about Floyd.

The interwebz are blowing up with Floyd memes right about now.

There's some funny going on...

 

[jrry32]

I guess I'm not the only one who was upset about Floyd.

The interwebz are blowing up with Floyd memes right about now.

There's some funny going on...

Happens after almost every Mayweather fight. This is just bigger because more people watched. People chide him for dancing and refusing to be hit. And then they go buy the next PPV expecting something different. It's like expecting the Patriots to come out against the Seahawks and try to beat them by running the ball 60 times and playing smashmouth defenses. It's not going to happen. You play to your strengths.

You're entitled to not like the guy or his style but he's amazing at what he does. His opponent rarely connects with clean shots. And people will whine about how he's supposed to get hit and fight. But I'd say if you barely get hit in a 12 round boxing match, you're doing something right.

His style isn't entertaining but it's highly effective and he's mastered it. It's like watching the Spurs play basketball. Some people call that boring because they're not running and dunking all day. But if you really sit down and watch the Spurs, you can appreciate what they're doing. Their ball movement and ability to get clean looks on offense is amazing and the team is just an absolute well oiled machine when it comes to knowing and playing their roles in a disciplined manner.

That's my opinion of Mayweather. He may not give you the flash but the man is all substance. He just is an amazing defensive boxer and counter-puncher. Not going to give you much offensive flare or take many chances but he's going to neutralize his opponent and drive them absolutely crazy.

 

[Athos]

Well the ONLY legacy left from that flaming bag of poo will be the amount of money earned. NOTHING special happened in that fight. Nothing.

Well, that and his wifebeater legacy.

But, being honest, no one should have expected much from a fight with both guys pushing 40. This probably should have happened a long time ago.

Everyone I've talked to though the fight was total horse shit though. And it was.

 

[fearsomefour]

But that just makes him a better version of Winky Wright.

He sure as hell isnt an all time great.

All-time greats FIGHT.

Mayweather ran in this one. In the biggest fight money wise of all time, he was content to hold, run and point out a boring ass win.

I was afraid he would turn it into the Tour de Las Vegas and he pretty much he did.

What's funny is if he thinks he won this fight, then by the exact same judging criteria, Oscar De La Hoya should have won in their fight.

Im just really disappointed. Mayweather had a chance to BEAT Manny and fight a legacy defining fight. Instead he ran and set boxing back immeasurably by "selling" everyone a fight he never intended to fight.

Well, great. He got his. Who's gonna buy the next PPV after that fraud when MMA fighters leave it all in the octagon every night.

Had Mayweather beat Manny the way Sugar Ray beat Hearns, I'd be lauding him with all due praise. But this borders on a heist. It was disingenuous to sell it the way he sold it and then fight it as cowardly as he did. Yeah, cowardly. NOBODY paid part of that $500M to watch that crap fight.

Mayweather is no Sugar Ray. He's no Hearns. He's no Hagler. Best ever? What a crock. He's a super talented defensive fighter who cracked the financial puzzle of big fights. But that doesn't make him great.

Anyway, I'm gonna watch comedies tonight and scrub the awful taste from my brain. I guess I had really hoped for not only a really great bout, but a bout that would be good for boxing going forward. Of course, this basically served Mayweather and I think we'll see it screwed boxing...and the fans who support boxing...badly.

This is what Mayweather does, that is his style. This is why I put a big chunk of money down on a Mayweather decision. Style wise this was nearly an impossible fight for Manny to win.
As for all-time great nonsense, who cares. Mayweather IS one of the best defensive fighters of all time. To say everyone has to have the same style to be great is silly. Its like comparing Brett Farve and Johnny Unitas....different eras and it means nothing ultimately. I enjoy watching Floyd fight because he is so damned skilled at what HE does. I enjoyed the fight.

 

[fearsomefour]

Well, that and his wifebeater legacy.

But, being honest, no one should have expected much from a fight with both guys pushing 40. This probably should have happened a long time ago.

Everyone I've talked to though the fight was total horse crap though. And it was.

Maybe these are the same folks who can only appreciate a home run and not a pitchers duel or can only appreciate a football game if it is 48-45. There are different styles. If everything was the same it would be boring. Anyone who knows how Mayweather fights knew exactly what this fight was going to be....this was easy money for me. To the window....

 

[thirteen28]

What a snoozefest. It went the way I expected it to, which is not to say the way I wanted it to.

I don't want to take anything way from Mayweather in terms of rating his talent, which is undeniable. He controlled most of the fight doing the same thing he always does - good defense and countering, not a lot of punches but the ones he does throw are very accurate and effective punches. But good lord, it's not exciting to watch.

On Pac's side, I wonder why Freddie Roach wasn't lighting a fire under his ass. He seemed to be very nonchalant in the corner between rounds. Pac never seemed to have as much movement as normal in this fight and certainly didn't throw punches from odd angles or do any of the things that could have made it more difficult for Floyd to control the fight the way he did.

 

[Athos]

On Pac's side, I wonder why Freddie Roach wasn't lighting a fire under his ass. He seemed to be very nonchalant in the corner between rounds. Pac never seemed to have as much movement as normal in this fight and certainly didn't throw punches from odd angles or do any of the things that could have made it more difficult for Floyd to control the fight the way he did.

I don't really watch much boxing, but what you're talking about seems to fall in life with Pac Man having a shoulder injury that prevented him from doing his normal stuff then.

 

[Mackeyser]

This wasn't sold as just any fight. It was sold as a HISTORIC fight.

Mayweather, specifically, sold it as that, and then treated it as just any other fight.

Sugar Ray didn't treat Hearns as just any fight. NONE of the super stars of old treated super fights as just any fight.

So all this BS that, "this is just Floyd" is just that.

Floyd is an exceptional defensive fighter who has consistently refused to step up and deliver in big fights and in the biggest fight of all, he treated it like a day game between the Indians and the A's.

NOBODY paid $110k for 5th row seats to watch boxings version of dancing with the stars. They wanted to see HISTORY.

The only history they saw was the biggest heist in Vegas history, because both undercards were better fights.

Again, being a defensive fighter does NOT obviate having an offense a la Sugar Ray over Hearns in spectacular KO fashion.

And that's what gets me. For the first time in forever, we had a chance at a super fight and Mayweather was too afraid to risk anything. It's not that we all don't know who the boring ass fighter Floyd is. It's that in the biggest money fight of all time, every other champ had the courage as well as concern for the fans and boxing to leave it all out there in their super fights. Mike Tyson bit Holyfield!!!

Like I said, Manny should have worn a dress into the ring...

And Tyson is right... Mayweather is a scared little man. Listen to his short interview. Billionaire hedge fund managers can walk their kids to school or be seen I public without looking like Doug Flutie behind an OL, but not Mayweather.

 

[dieterbrock]

Mayweather fought the way he fights. Pacquio was trying to unseat the champ. No reason for Floyd to do anything other than what he does. I'm shocked to see how much support pac gets despite fighting a lousy fight. He had mayweather backed up several times and laid off.
The fight ended up being pretty boring but the guy who should be criticized for not trying for a knockout is Pacman not the undefeated champ

 

[Prime Time]

This is the type of fight I prefer to watch but they don't come along very often.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mILPqwesNE

 

[fearsomefour]

This wasn't sold as just any fight. It was sold as a HISTORIC fight.

Mayweather, specifically, sold it as that, and then treated it as just any other fight.

Sugar Ray didn't treat Hearns as just any fight. NONE of the super stars of old treated super fights as just any fight.

So all this BS that, "this is just Floyd" is just that.

Floyd is an exceptional defensive fighter who has consistently refused to step up and deliver in big fights and in the biggest fight of all, he treated it like a day game between the Indians and the A's.

NOBODY paid $110k for 5th row seats to watch boxings version of dancing with the stars. They wanted to see HISTORY.

The only history they saw was the biggest heist in Vegas history, because both undercards were better fights.

Again, being a defensive fighter does NOT obviate having an offense a la Sugar Ray over Hearns in spectacular KO fashion.

And that's what gets me. For the first time in forever, we had a chance at a super fight and Mayweather was too afraid to risk anything. It's not that we all don't know who the boring ass fighter Floyd is. It's that in the biggest money fight of all time, every other champ had the courage as well as concern for the fans and boxing to leave it all out there in their super fights. Mike Tyson bit Holyfield!!!

Like I said, Manny should have worn a dress into the ring...

And Tyson is right... Mayweather is a scared little man. Listen to his short interview. Billionaire hedge fund managers can walk their kids to school or be seen I public without looking like Doug Flutie behind an OL, but not Mayweather.

I am at a loss as to why Mayweather being smart causes people to be angry with him?
Part of the reason he has maintained his skill is he is a smart guy. He can box when he needs to and outpoint guys, he can brawl when he needs to. He is not going to take a risk to satisfy fans sitting there on their fat asses and why should he? A boxer, musician, actor or whoever else saying "I am doing this because it is what the fans want..." is a fool and probably lying.
I give the guy credit for being smart and doing what he does.
As for Manny, it would not have mattered if it was 5 years ago, if he was injured or healthy or anything else, he was not going to beat Mayweather. He comes straight ahead and does his little bob to the left and right then comes in....way too easy for a guy like Floyd to time and way to ingrained for Manny to change.

 

[Mackeyser]

I'm not sure how many more ways to say it.

This was not any fight. This was the biggest money fight of all time.

If this were like Mayweather's next fight, which everyone knows will be boring as watching paint dry... and PPV will be way down... then fine.

The point isn't that Mayweather is what he is. Everyone knows who and what he is.

The point is that IT'S NOT ENOUGH FOR THE BIGGEST MONEY FIGHT OF ALL TIME.

Other defensive fighters have participated in fantastic, epic, Super Fights.

Mayweather hasn't even been in many really GOOD fights, let alone ANY GREAT fights and that's not a testament to his skill nor the lack of legit opponents (although I think he lost to Oscar de la Hoya even as Oscar let off the gas in the last few rounds).

He's a tremendously skilled fighter whose claim to fame is that he figured out the big fight money puzzle... be your own promoter and be the bad guy... be a truly awful human being that people will pay REAL money to watch lose and then use that tremendous skill to do just enough to dispatch all comers...over and over and over.

I give him credit for his business acumen (and I'm PISSED at myself for falling for it).

But as for the BOXING argument, no. Just, no. I've been watching boxing too long and know too much about this sport to give him anything. He's heartless and that means something. When you have men like Thomas Hearns who gives us that fight against Hagler (and if he doesn't break his hand on the top of Hagler's head, I think he knocks Hagler out. Hearns actually had Hagler stunned, the only man to ever do that...and like the beast he was, Hearns kept throwing that broken hand until he got knocked out. Now, THAT'S heart. If you watched that fight, you KNOW where you were.) Fighters are PROUD. It's why I LOVE Mexican Fighters. And Fighters from Detroit and Philly. Both have VERY proud traditions. If you watched Floyd Mayweather, Sr, fight, he was part of that. He fought with a FEROCITY. Hell, Floyd Mayweather, Sr was hating how his son fought this fight because it was gutless and he knew it. He was saying so in the ring. So all of this, "business man in the ring" stuff is just that. Stuff.

It's why MMA is becoming so much more popular. Mixed Martial artists leave it all in the octagon every fight. For the few fights where a fighter dogs it, it's an aberration and the fans and other mixed martial artists will let that guy know. No guy stays in the sport dogging it. They DO care about the fans and they DO care about fighting with pride. Hell, just look at the best pound for pound fighter now, Demetrius Johnson who just fought in UFC 186 the week before. Fought and dominated for 5 rounds... had his opponent in a crucifix with 10 seconds left to go in the fifth and final round and his corner shouted "ARMBAR!" and Johnson used his BJJ to transition into full mount, then BAM, Armbar... with the tap with ONE SECOND LEFT in the final round. He went for the submission even though he'd dominated all five rounds. I almost was dizzy shouting for how awesome that was. It was technically dazzling, physically dominant and just an outstanding demonstration of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. And I got to see that at the local restaurant for FREE (I ordered food, but no cover).

The only reason anyone will know where they were for this stinker was because they either spent too much money or they won't. As a fight, this was a bust.

It wasn't a boxing exhibition. Mayweather's put on those before, but that was against lesser competition like Hatton. It had so little action, whole rounds were little more than a waltz.

Listen... as much as I despise Mayweather as a person...and I really, REALLY do, I respect his boxing skills. He is what he is and again, had he done what Sugar Ray did to Hearns, I would have really lathered on the respect.

But he didn't.

Mayweather sucks as a big money fighter because he gets all those buys as a character...the data shows people tune in to see him lose. Even social media had the people going for Pacquiao by more than 2:1. And he used his business acumen to talk about The Best Ever and took shots at Muhammed Ali and talked crap about the Rope-a-Dope and folks thought (me included) that he just might step up to the Super Fight stage.

Nope.

After the buys were in, he didn't care about any of this. He treated this as no different than if this fight were an undercard fight at StubHub Arena and he was 6-0. Actually, that's not quite true. He was a better fighter and boxer and brought more to the table when he was younger.

Now, he's got "just-enough-itis"

Sorry, for a purse of $150+M, I think he should have brought a whole helluva lot more than just enough. He should have brought EVERYTHING, Boxed like Freddie Roach had the antidote and would only give it to him if he KOd Manny and then lived up to all that TBE nonsense.

Instead, he showed us all what a poser looks like. The only difference between Winky Wright and Floyd Mayweather is about 10% more talent and Don King's business acumen. Strip the business acumen and neither is worth talking much about.

I post about this because I used to really care about boxing. I used to sit there are watch the Boxing from the Olympic Stadium on my black and white tv. I used to watch it in spanish when it wasn't on in english. I really CARED about the sport, cared about the stories, the people, the history.

Floyd turned it into an ATM and the price for that will be that folks will realize that they didn't get much of anything for all that money... we haven't seen a PPV Heavyweight fight in forever and most of the recent PPV fights have been duds. There's still some compelling people in boxing, but good luck selling tix now. Had this fight been epic, it would have been great for boxing. This fight was a dud and this will hurt boxing badly. That's sad to me.

Oh, and I'm still trying to figure out after September when he's done his last fight... what's the over/under on his next DV conviction. Even better, since he won't be making Vegas any more money, it'll be interesting if they finally get tough on him.

I'm thinking without all the attention, it's 2 years, but we'll see. It's not like he's going to counseling...

 

[fearsomefour]

"Now, he's got "just-enough-itis""

Again, I don't think this is anything new. If you bought the fight knowing who Mayweather is and expected Hagler to show up, well, this just is not going to happen.

"Oh, and I'm still trying to figure out after September when he's done his last fight... what's the over/under on his next DV conviction. Even better, since he won't be making Vegas any more money, it'll be interesting if they finally get tough on him."

To the first part of this quote, I could not care less.
To the second, that is sort of an interesting question. It depends if Floyd is crazy like a fox or just crazy.

"I post about this because I used to really care about boxing. I used to sit there are watch the Boxing from the Olympic Stadium on my black and white tv. I used to watch it in spanish when it wasn't on in english. I really CARED about the sport, cared about the stories, the people, the history."

I hear ya, I feel your passion in your posts.
Boxing is still big, it just is not a sport centered in America anymore. Boxing went away from Friday Night Fights and good, midsize to big fights being on Wide World of Sports on a Saturday afternoon. It is sort of being forced back into this approach for some of the reasons you mentioned. When every fight is either not broadcast or a PPV event fans don't have a chance to connect with fighters, a fan base just is not developed in the same way. MMA started out giving the product away with multiple free shows going on weekly. That has subsided a bit, but, to me it is a bit of over kill still. They are two different sports certainly but they are cousins. Frankly, both are a quick step away from being WWF at any moment. Often the bogus story lines and fight hype are more fluff than substance and there are rare fighters that can put it all together. MMA has evolved....I hope there are not too many more champions or legends with records barely over .500. Interestingly enough I find MMA tedious for some of the same reasons you tired of boxing.
As for the cost of the fight, yeah, it was silly. I went in with some friends on it so it was cheap for each of us because, as I told them, I fully expect it to be a boring, predictable fight. Its the same reason I put a chunk of money down on a Floyd decision.
Its like buying a ticket to summer blockbuster action flick only to have it turn out to be a lame romantic comedy, or, plunking down the money for NFL Sunday Ticket soley to watch the Rams and not getting what one would want for the money....buyer beware.

 

[yrba1]

The fight was like watching Chelsea park the bus against Barcelona back in the 2012 UEFA Champions League: it's an effective but boring tactic on Mayweather's case. Glad I only dropped $20 on that match because I would spend the rest of the week admitting how stupid I would be paying at full price.

Listening to my Filipino family members and others across social media was cringe-worthy when they seriously thought Pacquiao would knock him out and then started bitching after he lost.

I really hope the NFL and UFC stays away from Vegas influence, it just ruins the integrity of sportsmanship.