KO's Ringside Notes & Quotes VIII — The #MayPac "Money Grab" wrap-up

The Farce of the Century

By Jeffrey Freeman, KO Digest 

‪ Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao turned out to be so much worse as a fight, and as an event, than any of us could've imagined. It's still hard to believe something so big could suck so bad. The undercard was terrible. The promotion was next to nonexistent. Any relationship between the two boxers was long ago reduced to contempt and then chronic disinterest. This was not a rivalry. This was not the biggest fight in boxing history. This was a money grab, a fleecing, a shameful shake-down and boxing got shook up. 

The "fight" itself was so terrible they actually killed the allure of a rematch. They couldn't even get that right. Can you believe it? The three hundred million dollar men delivered a final product not worthy of the novice class Golden Glove semi-finals in Lowell. It was all so bad that not only don't we want a sequel, we'd all like to go back and undemand this debacle, a waste of space on my DVR so foul I deleted it to make room for the movie Grudge Match.

Duran and Leonard put on a better show in 1989

DKSAB — Scour the world wide web long enough and you will read and see things that defy belief. Two girls, one cup. Creation science websites. Mass beheading videos. The list goes on and on. And now, the latest in online insanity. Brace yourselves. I'm going to say this very slowly so it doesn't knock you down where you stand. Get ready. Here it comes. There are actually people out there on planet Earth who scored the Mayweather-Pacquiao whitewash for Pacquiao. Let that sink in. Try not to scream. I know it hurts. My head aches too.

Obviously, Floyd won at least 9, but maybe even 10 or 11 rounds and yet despite this, Al Gore's internet will show you misguided scores of 115-113 for Pacquiao like this was Marvin Hagler-Sugar Ray Leonard and not the Leonard-Duran III redux it obviously was. KO scored it 117-111 for Mayweather in a waltz.

A picture worth a thousand words and 300 million dollars

Class Dismissed — The ultimate lesson of ‪#‎MayPac‬ was heard (and learned) loud and clear by every single prizefighter in the world of professional boxing who dreams of low risks and big rewards. That lesson was that when boxing fans actually want to see you and some other guy fight it out in your primes, no matter what you do and no matter what people say; don't fight that fight, at least not right away. Instead, what you do is wait, delay, duck, dodge, put it off, and build it up. Then when sports fans worldwide are finally ready to fork over the really big bucks, you grab that cash with both hands and give them a pay-per-view sparring session.

The Last Words — KO wrote one very wrongheaded prediction on RingTV's "Fight Picks" by Anson Wainwright but also lots of foreboding pre-fight analysis for ‪#‎MayCrap, the greatest fleece in boxing history. What follows was my best and most accurate:

Mayweather left boxing fans wanting less

"It's no secret that Floyd Mayweather is a defensive counterpuncher who looks to minimize contact and do just enough punching to win boxing matches. Mayweather will not expose himself to a firefight if it's not absolutely necessary and the onus is on Manny Pacquiao to make it absolutely necessary."

"Mayweather, 38, against Pacquiao, 36, on May 2 is an overdue money grab and the fight itself comes with a high probability of being boring to the eyes. The least they could do is make the build-up exciting for fight fans and enticing to mainstream sports fans who long ago abandoned boxing."