Sports
Pacquiao vs. Mayweather was Mostly about the Money, Boxing was an After-Thought
Floyd Mayweather Jr., left, and Manny Pacquiao, from the Philippines, embrace in the ring at the finish of their welterweight title fight on Saturday, May 2, 2015 in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Ashish Magotra, FIRST POST SPORTS
(FirstPost.com) — A fight five years in the making, two legendary boxers, the stars (from Michael Jordan to Clint Eastwood to Justin Bieber to Claire Danes) with ringside seats and a multi-million dollar payout. The hype surrounding the Manny Pacquiao vs Floyd Mayweather ‘Fight of The Century’ was immense and in the end, perfect for television.
The welterweight bout between a man who was living on the streets when he took up boxing at the age of 16 and went on the become an inspiration for all of the Phillipines and an undefeated boxer with a 47-0 record was a tantalising prospect — not just because of the storyline but also because of the contrast of their styles. Manny is an all-out aggressive boxer, whose style borders on the reckless and Mayweather is the defensive counter-puncher who just doesn’t get hit.
But what played out at the end of the day was a big disappointment. At no point did the fighters push themselves to the limit; at no point were they really desperate; at no point were the fighters in danger of being knocked out; at no point were two legends part of a fight that would be remembered for ages; at no point did they look like they wanted to create a ‘Rumble in the MGM’ or anything of its kind.
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