Five years in the making and twelve rounds later, Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather had, well, not much of a fight.
On May 2, the super fight between two of the best fighters in boxing history were expected to live up to the hype.
Three-hundred-million dollars worth of hype. If the fight went all 12 rounds, which it did, then it would be the highest paid match in boxing history.
This fight was in the works for five years, but financial disagreements and other disagreements, upon terms such as location, kept this fight from happening. Finally, the two decided to give the fans what they wanted.
Officially announced on Feb 20, this bout between two boxing icons was labeled “fight of the century” from the start, which is fair to say. In one corner, there’s Floyd Mayweather, holding a record of 47-0, defensive master, one of the flashiest (and cockiest) fighters since Muhammad Ali.
In the other corner, there’s Manny Pacquiao, holding a record of 57-5-1. Pac-man seems to be the complete opposite of Mayweather, power-puncher, humble and reserved.
The fight was seen by many as “Good vs. Evil” and would decide who deserved to be called the best boxer of this generation.
This fight was bad from before the two fighters even got into the ring. During the fighters’ walk-outs, Jimmy Kimmel joined Pacquiao as he walked to the beat of “Lalaban Ako”, his own recorded walkout tune.
Money Mayweather came out with none other than Justin Beiber. Enough said.
To be honest, I’d rather pay 100 dollars to watch Kimmel and Bieber go 12 rounds.The bell rang as if Armageddon was beginning.
Nope. Instead it was like they were skipping around in the Garden of Eden.
It was like senior prom. They started with a quick two-step routine (dancing around the ring), got in
AP Photo / Eric Jamison
close for intense head-banging (combination punches), and then Mayweather pulled Pacquiao in for a slow dance (clinch) until the chaperone (the referee) had to break up the P.D.A. In reality, the fight was just as boring as the senior prom, too. Everybody dressed to impress, it was too expensive and all the popular kids hung out in their own little cliques.
For example, New England Patriots players Tom Brady, Julian Edelman and owner Mr. Robert Kraft sat together. As did celebrities like Jay-Z , Beyonce and Mark Whalberg. However, most people left disappointed with the events of the night.
Aside from a few combinations here and there, very few punches were thrown, and even fewer of those were landed. Mayweather took aim at Pac-man 435 times, landing 34 percent of his shots. Pac, on the other hand, threw 429 while landing 19 percent. I don’t give much credit to Mayweather, though.
During most of the fight he just skipped around Pacquiao, and if by chance Pac was able to land a couple good jabs, Mayweather would clinch up and wait for the referee to separate them. That’s how it went for all 12 rounds. There were no knockdowns, no scrappiness and no hype.
Mayweather came out with the win by a unanimous decision after 36 minutes of “action.” Floyd “Money” Mayweather made due on his nickname, pulling in $170 million (equating to $15 million per round) while Pac-man ate up $95.2 million ($8.4 million per round). I’d call it a no contest.
One would think that for that much money, they would put on a show. I guess millions of fans around the world now can say they’ve seen the biggest flop event in boxing history. Someone needs to arrange that Kimmel vs Bieber fight I was talking about, now that’ll pull in some revenue.
Jacob Barrett can be contacted at jbarrett@kscequinox.com
