Last night, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao touched gloves and fought 12 rounds in Vegas, a duel dubbed pre-fight as the "fight of the century." Floyd's elusiveness shined through for the 48th time in 48 professional bouts as he won by unanimous decision.
Everyone who is feigning surprise and bemoaning last night's fight as boring must not have watched Floyd's previous 47 sweet science displays. Anger at the fight is misplaced. Such anger is cognitive dissonance/buyer's remorse of falling victim to slick and pervasive promotion and marketing.
Additionally, there are others who purchased the PPV and now regret padding the pockets of a man (Floyd) with a documented past of domestic violence. Pacquiao, an outspoken Christian, philanthropist and politician, was cast as the perfect character foil to Mayweather's love of money. The storylines were rich and dripping with nuance.
It's as if Mayweather's marketing team waved a magic wand that made casual boxing fans forget he fights a fully defensive style before they hit "buy" for $100. I imagine there are others, rich and famous, who shelled out insane dollars to sit ringside that today are feeling a twinge of regret as well.
I personally didn't purchase the fight, but I've made plenty of impulse buys over the years. Yesterday, however, I used Floyd-esque defense to fend off the magnetic pull of ESPN, TMT and Manny (as a Christian warrior) hype. The marketing major in me really appreciated many elements of the event. From Manny eating Butterfinger products at the weigh-in to Floyd walking out with the actual. Burger King, Twitter was ablaze and $100 cheaper than actually buying the fight.
Both Mayweather and Pacquiao will one day be enshrined in the Boxing Hall of Fame in Canastota, New York. Mayweather is the best of his generation, revered by hardcore fight fans and dismissed by virtually everyone else.
