A victim of its own hype
May 4, 2015, 6:16 AM | Updated: 12:24 pm
Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao perform in one of the most anticipated boxing matches in recent history. (AP)
(AP)
The Mayweather Pacquao fight left me astounded. Not by the fight — I’m not a boxing fan; didn’t watch it — but by the reaction on the Internet.
The Internet was littered with some very unhappy customers, displeased with the fight. But that’s bound to happen when you charge $100 for a TV show. People expect a life changing event.
They expect to see Tony Soprano shot.
But this fight — was like one of those harassment videos — 36 minutes of unwanted touching.
Clearly the Internet critics wanted more.
“Defensive boxing is killing the sport,” one online critic said. “Mayweather may be a great boxer, but he’s a horrible entertainer.
But then there are other fans, who think these fans are idiots.
“I see all these stupid posts by people who really don’t know nothing about boxing,” said another critic.
And as for Mayweather himself — he was unapologetic.
“It’s all about working smarter, not harder,” Mayweather said after the fight. “This is not called slugging, this is called boxing.”
What the fans wanted was concussions. But Mayweather realized — and maybe Pacquiao did too — that when you make that much money, you want to spend it on big homes and fast cars. Not assisted living.
So was it a ripoff?
I would look at it this way: For $100, you got to say you watched the fight, you got to complain about being ripped off, and you got to complain about the people who complain.
As I see it, that’s three fights for the price of one.
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