The fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao will shatter many records in boxing. The fact that it is being anticipated by millions around the world can only attest to its billing as the fight of the century.
Financially, the showdown next month at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada will be the biggest in the history of the sport. In fact, its promoters said they expect it will generate more than $400 million.
However, can the fight save a dying sport? Can Mayweather and Pacquiao be able to live up to our expectations and produce a classic fight that would signal the revival of boxing?
If they were boxing’s true saviors, the Money and the Pacman should have fought six years ago, when they were still in their prime and when the world first clamored for them to slug it out.
But, as the world knows it, it was the two fighters who killed the fight themselves, blaming each other for failing to come up with a contract. Mayweather would blame Pacquiao for not agreeing to the blood test he demanded while the latter would accuse the American of avoiding him for demanding too much.
Had the American and the Filipino congressman agreed to fight in 1999, their May 2 showdown could have been the last of their trilogy. And their rivalry could have already earned a prime spot in the sport’s history.
Let’s admit that boxing is well on its way to extinction. Gone are the days when it used to be a major sporting spectacle that every time the likes of Ali, Hagler, Leonard, Duran and Tyson would fight, the world would come to a halt.
The last time boxing has a true star was when Oscar de la Hoya fought his way into a global attraction. The Golden Boy had cashed in on his Olympic success to become the face of professional boxing when Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield were no longer the force of the sport.
During his prime, De la Hoya gained a huge following for fighting gallantly against the best in his division. He was best remembered for fighting Tito Trinidad, Shane Mosley and Bernard Hopkins – although his matches with Mayweather and Pacquiao are both top grosser.
When De la Hoya retired, Mayweather and Pacquiao were left to carry the torch. Although there were quite a few stars, they do not have the bankability that would command huge pay-per-view results.
In order to rescue boxing from becoming irrelevant, the fight that many have wanted to see for years is finally happening, in a ring date that is expected to be the richest in boxing. The public clamor was so strong that even rival American television networks HBO and Showtime agreed to jointly broadcast the fight.
But what will happen to boxing after the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight? Of course, no one will know if the anticipated match between a highly defensive fighter and a slugger who are both past their prime is all what the fans need to save a dying sport.
nickoldschool
Roar Guru
"Professional boxing continues to flourish with 18 title fights scheduled for April alone " But isn't it the problem, too many title fights that confuse boxing fans? Perso, I agree with the author. I don't know if boxing is dying as such but as a fan I just don't have the same excitement that I had as a kid/teen then young adult in the 80s and 90s. Even in Europe we had the Eubank, Benn, Tiozzo, Benichou etc. As 10yo we had posters of Hagler, Leonard, Holmes, Duran then Tyson, Holyfield etc. I am just not sure young kids dream of today's stars the same way we did. But if they do, fair enough and good on them.
bob
Guest
nice one pastor.as i may add,the crucial in this fight is the early stage.for pacquiao,he has to let his fist fly so that may will feel his power.if that happens,fmj will be very careful in opening up and eventually pot shooting is his next plan.but it will not earn him the rounds if the punch stats will show enormous difference in punches thrown.if pac will get the early rounds fmj will adjust and resort to other plan as he is very good.whatever is that plan is,as what tyson said "everybody has a plan until you get hit".
Plainsman
Guest
I reject your contention that Boxing is a dying sport. Firstly you do not define your terms but make oblique references to days of old when Tyson et al were on the world stage and commanded world attention. You do not provide any evidence to show that participation, attendance or audience levels are less in 2015 than they were twenty or more years ago. Without a baseline to work with your assertion is not valid. Having said that let me help you out. There are five amateur boxing federations and six professional boxing federations. In the US statista.com reports that 6.9 million Americans are regular boxers (but it is not known how many are registered fighters). In Australia Boxing Australia reports that we have over 1800 registered amateur boxers who belong to over 200 clubs. Many more participate in boxfit and boxtag. The Boxing Record website has received over 125 million unique hits in its recent history indicating a healthy interest in the sport of boxing. The sport essentially consumes Latin America with very high levels of participation and audience views on pay per view etc. The Olympics in Rio will see over 270 bouts contested both male and female. All 195 national federations will hold qualifying competitions and each state will do the same. This is only the amateur side. Professional boxing continues to flourish with 18 title fights scheduled for April alone according to Boxing.com. All of which will be televised on Showtime or HBO and will earn considerable sums from subscribers. It is also interesting to compare the Manny/Money fight with previous pay per view fights. The table below CNBC makes interesting reading: Floyd Mayweather v. Oscar De La Hoya 2.4 million 2007 Floyd Mayweather v. Canelo Alvarez 2.2 million 2013 Mike Tyson v. Evander Holyfield II 2 million 1997 Mike Tyson v. Lennox Lewis 1.9 million 2002 Mike Tyson v. Evander Holyfield I 1.6 million 1996 So much for a dying sport.
SM
Guest
Exactly. People have been saying boxing is dying since the 1920s and are proved wrong time and time again.
Grahame
Guest
One thing I won't be praying for is Congressman Pacquiao becoming President of the Philippines. This last year he only spent 4 days in the Congress, the lowest of all members. But of course the people of the Philippines do like their "celebrities", and their corrupt politicians, (not to suggest that Pacquiao is in this latter category). What the Philippines needs is a Lee Kwan Yew, not a guy who has been on the receiving end of head punches for 20+ years.
jeK
Guest
You mean 2009 not 1999?
pjm
Roar Rookie
Keep the god bothering in the church mate
Glen
Guest
Who says boxing is a dying sport? What is their bases on that? Boxing is not Golf, ok? And it is here to stay no matter what.
Pastor Burt
Guest
Manny Pacquiao will win the May 2nd Fight Easily: Floyd Mayweather claimed edge is that he has never lost. I submit that the reason he has never lost is because of the boxers he has allowed to fight him. On average, all the boxers that have fought Floyd Mayweather have collectively had a 17% career connect rate. So first of all understand Floyd Mayweather has won so many fights for two reasons: His opponents have been 90% right handers and they have a low connect rate, because Pretty Boy Floyd doesn’t like to get hit. Mayweather has a 46% career connect rate. He throws far less punches, likely 100 to 120 over 12 rounds, but his punches are more accurate so he gets a much higher percentage of punches to land. Mayweather has slowed down. In Mayweather’s first fight against Marcos Maidana, Maidana threw 858 punches, landing 221 at a 25% connect rate. By the end of that fight, Pretty Boy Floyd Mayweather did not look so pretty: A broken lip and one eye all swollen up but Mayweather still won by a decision. Pacquiao is a far different animal than Floyd Mayweather has ever fought. Pacquiao throws more punches and has a much higher connect rate. Pacquaio attempted 1420 punches in his last two fights against Timothy Bradley and Chris Algieri. Expect in the Mayweather that Pacquiao will attempt likely more punches and more combinations. Let’s say a total of 1500 punches or more. Pacquiao’s career connect rate is 29% - Yes, lower than Floyd’s but - this means Pretty Boy Floyd is likely to get hit by 435 landed punches to Mayweather likely 120 connected punches against Pacquiao over 12 rounds. Consequently, Pretty Boy Floyd’s face is going to look really broken up by the end of this twelve round encounter with Pacquiao, while Pacquiao will look just fine. Having connected twice as many times against Mayweather then Maidana, four times more landed punches than Mayweather, and with Mayweather’s face all broken up, the judges will have no choice but to award Pacquiao the decision. Pacquiao is going to do just fine. When Floyd does his defensive right shoulder role, Pacquiao has to move right to Floyd’s side and throw a left to the side of Floyd’s unprotected face. Floyd either runs or turn’s left to defend. If Floyd turn’s left to face, Pacquiao will hit him with more combinations then we can count. When Floyd tries to set traps along the ropes, hopefully Pacquiao will have the good sense to simply walk to the center of the ring. Floyd’s traps fail. My background is that of a retired priest, an American living modestly in the Philippines because I don’t have the money to live in the United States, the least of God’s servants. For those of you who have not lived in the Philippines, you have no idea of Manny Pacquiao’s popularity in this country and the love Pacquiao has among Filipinos. His is the success story for every man. Consequently, on May 2nd every single major television network in the Philippines has already scheduled to be carrying the fight live and for free: ABS-CBN, GMA, Channel 5, Channel 23, Fox, Solar Sports, as well as HBO. Nothing like this has ever happened before in the Philippines. This is far bigger event then the Super Bowl. The fight will be televised on a Sunday in the afternoon. The whole country will come to a stop to watch this fight. Nothing like this has ever happened in the United States, but it is happening for Manny Pacquiao here in the Philippines. As a priest, I tend to look to the spiritual. The scriptures say this, (James 5:14) “The effectual fervent prayers of a righteous man availeth much.” Who will be praying for Pacquiao? Millions. Who will be praying for Mayweather? Nobody. Who will win? “The effectual fervent prayers of a righteous man availeth much.” Maybe saying no prayers for Mayweather is a bit much. Maybe one or two people. A few people will actually be praying for him. But you have to ask yourself, will Mayweather’s former wife whom he domestically beat be praying for him? No. Will his adopted son that Mayweather almost strangled to death be praying for him? No. Who then in his own family will be praying for Money Mayweather? Hardly anyone. How about Pacquiao’s family? No man has shown greater charity or love to his countryman then Manny Pacquiao. Pacquiao’s family is a whole nation. “The effectual fervent prayers of a righteous man avialeth much.” When Manny Pacquiao falls to his knees in his corner right before the fight to pray for God’s blessing as he always does, will God hear Manny’s prayer’s and those of the millions also praying for him worldwide? “The effectual fervent prayers of a righteous man avialeth much.” Those prayers will arrive at the throne of God like thunder claps trumpeting within the heavens. What precisely is God’s response. Whose corner will God be in for that fight? Not Mayweather’s. Manny Pacquiao will not fail. Everything Manny tries that night will simply work amazingly, if not supernaturally. Manny Pacquiao wins and he wins big. Love, Pastor Burt