Mayweather Vs Pacquiao Showed Changes Needed in Boxing

(It ended with a whimper! This is what I wrote a couple of weeks after the forgettable Mayweather-Pacquiao sparring match. First published at Boxingnews24, read on fellow aficionados!)

About 2 Weeks removed from the fight of the century, and with Mayweather and Pacquiao now hundreds of millions richer, it's time to revisit that farce of a boxing match.

Here's what we learned:
1. Mayweather looks to have really benefited from the match being held in MGM Grand, which is his turf. Watching the replay, the commentators made it sound that Mayweather was pulverising Pacquiao with the hand of God. Tuning out the noise, a draw is the best outcome Floyd could have hoped for. Instead, he was awarded the win.
2. There is a need for transparency in the way boxing judges do the scoring. It's high time we know the score after each round as well as how the judges arrived at the score so nobody gets conned in the end. Also, there's scoring integrity in real professional sports that is painfully lacking in boxing. Change is needed and soon.
3. Don't do the math in a Mayweather fight because things don't really add up. Less is more apparently and the judges somehow buy that.
4. Mayweather was robbed of an Olympic medal and it seems Professional Boxing overcompensated by favouring Mayweather whenever his fights went to the scorecards. Mayweather should not be winning any boxing match when all he does is run away without making the opponent pay. Otherwise, Joshua Clottey - another defensive Master, but more of a possum than a hare - should also be undefeated.
5. Pacquiao thought "Mayweather didn't do nothing." He was right.
6. Pacquiao thought he won the fight. He may be right.
7. Mayweather called Pacquiao a coward. That's after five years of Mayweather evading a fight with Pacquiao and 12 rounds of running away from an injured smaller fighter.

In hindsight, we're all better off not watching the fight. Having said that, any takers for a rematch?

http://www.boxingnews24.com/2015/05/mayweather-vs-pacquiao-showed-changes-needed-in-boxing/

Running Man Mayweather Awarded a Win Over Tepid Pacquiao

(My take on the forgettable Mayweather-Pacquiao boxing match. Read on fellow afficionados, this is worth your time and 100 times much better than the fight!)

Basketball is a running game. Apparently, so is boxing. And Mayweather who showcased his running skills against Pacquiao naturally won.

It was a masterful performance once again by Mayweather. He ran around the ring and Pacquiao rarely caught up with him. But the fight of the century it never was. More like tag you're it. Mayweather playfully running away and Pacquiao just happy to be there.

We waited for the Big Bang from two boxing gods sharing the same ring, a Mayweather-Pacquiao supernova that will reverberate through time and space altering our perception of life or reinforcing it. Boxing becoming a religious experience once more, like the gladiator combat in all its glory way back in Ancient Rome.

Alas, Mayweather was always a blackhole. And Pacquiao's light always destined to be sucked in by the growing darkness - the inevitable death of a star.

It ended in a whimper. Mayweather fleeing after a few love taps and Pacquiao taking his own sweet time to run after Floyd with no sense of urgency at all. Boxing's ultra elites went through the motion - a sparring job at best - and happily collected their ungodly pay cheques.

Elsewhere, the Spurs and Clippers battled to the death in game 7. Blake Griffin was finally the monster we wanted him to become and Chris Paul gave his life and limb to overcome the almighty Tim Duncan. Super athletes rising to the occasion and elevating themselves. That was the real fight of the century.

The boxing match we've waited for and watched was however something else entirely. 

Mayweather's bogus win is a middle finger directed to the suckers that we are and Pacquiao's shoulder injury a good sell for a rematch.

The con remains at play.

Article first published at Boxingnews24.
http://www.boxingnews24.com/2015/05/running-man-mayweather-awarded-a-win-over-tepid-pacquiao/

Mayweather Vs Pacquiao - End Game

By Rasheed Catapang

Floyd Mayweather is a boxing genius. A tortured soul, the fight with Pacquiao had played out in his mind many times over. He'd thought Every move and counter, every feint and attack, every run and chase and its permutations. They all led to a single outcome - a whirlwind attack, a barrage of punches coming from every angle piercing the much vaunted shoulder roll. Floyd flat on his back, knocked out cold by Pacquiao.

A genius knows it's equal. And from the moment he laid eyes on him, Mayweather knew Pacquiao was his, and then some. But that was true 4 or 5 years ago. Floyd retired and evaded Pacquiao. He watched, waited and knew exactly when Pacquiao's skills had eroded. A decline which was more than his, it's time to cash in the chips - all 180 million dollar of it.

But then again, Pacquiao is a once in a generation talent who might have saved his best for last. He gave in to Mayweather's every demand just to secure the much coveted fight. Floyd, for all we know, is on death row. 

Roach said "Floyd can't run like he used to... We'll knock out Floyd." And so on May 2, the Tazmanian devil that made Dela Hoya quit and Cotto retreat will be unleashed again to devour Mayweather once and for all. Floyd, should he reach the 12th round by some miracle, can hope for a Bradley like win. That is highly unlikely, but still.

We all want the perfect storm, however. The yin and yang in reckless abandon, forces of nature colliding to destroy the balance. Pacquiao and Mayweather toe to toe - boxing's deadliest practitioners giving all they have and more. 

It may end with a whimper or with a bang. Either way, this is already so much more fun than the taunting game we've endured for years.

Article first published @ Boxingnews24:

http://www.boxingnews24.com/2015/03/mayweather-vs-pacquiao-end-game/#more-189770