May 1, 2015, - 5:40 pm
Mayweather Jr. v. Pacquiao: Who Are You Rooting For? Who’s Gonna Win? Do You Care?
Yes, I know the grammatically correct way of saying it is, for whom are you rooting? So, tomorrow night is the big boxing match between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. Who do you think will win? Who do you want to win the fight? Do you care? Why or why not? Here’s my take, since many have asked . . . .
I’ve lamented the death of boxing on this site several times. Although I often wince like the girl that I am each time a boxer’s punch hits his opponent’s flesh, I do like watching a good fight. I think the decline of boxing has in many ways correlated with the increase in America’s softness, the Bruce Jennerization of America. But, as Mark Twain might say, maybe I exaggerated the reports of boxing’s death. I thought MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) had eclipsed it for now, but I guess I was, at least temporarily, wrong.
Tomorrow night’s fight has generated more interest and more buzz than any boxing event in years, probably decades. And why? Neither fighter is that glamorous. Neither one is a showman like Thomas Hearns and George Foreman were in yesteryear.
Mayweather has been convicted of domestic violence five times in the last 14 years. But he’s the highest-paid athlete in America, maybe the world. He has a boxer’s swagger, but it’s just not entertaining. I can’t remember anything cute or memorable he’s said. But I do remember the frightening (and Muslim) Mike Tyson saying he would eat a boxer’s children, then eating Ear of Evander (Holyfield) and Leg of Lennox (Lewis). Not that we need a repeat of any of that.
I like Manny Pacquiao’s devout Christianity (he was born Catholic and became an Evanglical Christian) and record of charity to so many poor people in his native Philippines and elsewhere. He’s very generous and very humble. There’s little swagger there, despite his status as a Filipino politician and a singer. Oh, and did I mention that Pacquiao endorsed both Harry Reid and Governor Moonbeam a/k/a Jerry Brown? (Thanks to reader There Is No Santa Claus for the tip.) That’s a turn-off. Why would a born-again Christian support two of the pallbearers of the coffin of traditional social values and family in America? It doesn’t make sense, whether or not Reid (who thankfully is retiring) is a boxing fan and promoter.
Still, I like Pacquiao better because he’s the underdog and looks to me like “the little guy,” and so I’m rooting for him. I think he may get clobbered by Mayweather, though. It isn’t just women Mayweather can beat. He’s undefeated against all men and girlfriend/babymamas he’s ever fought.
Will I go see the fight? I’m not sure, but probably not. The Jewish Sabbath ends just as the fight is scheduled to begin, and I don’t think I want to pay big bucks toward either of these guys in the fees that movie theaters and bars are charging to see it (I don’t have cable but wouldn’t pay the pay-per-view fee either, if I did).
I don’t care much about it. It’s just interesting to see that this fight has people talking about boxing again the way they haven’t in America in a long time. And it’s fun to watch a good fight where the competition is tough and well-matched. This fight, given the ages of the boxers, should probably have happened about five years ago, though.
So, in Pacqiuao V. Mayweather, who are you rooting for and why? Who’s gonna win and why? Do you care? Why?
I, for one, am glad that boxing is back (for now).
Tags: boxing, Fight of the Century, Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Manny Pacquiao Harry Reid, Manny Pacquiao Jerry Brown, Pacquiao Mayweather
I like the Pac Man!
Red Randy on May 1, 2015 at 7:53 pm