Nope, not watching Mayweather-Pacquiao

 

But for much less complicated reasons than most

I’m not watching the fight Saturday night. But I’m not boycotting it, either, as many people are.

Yes, Floyd Mayweather, himself, is reprehensible. You can find many a story, now, hyping his abuse of women from the last decade. And paying $100 for pay-per-view in a fight that could eclipse $400 million in revenue (60% to Mayweather), the thought of him making money on your dime is disgusting.

But that’s not why I’m not tuning in. I respect those who aren’t for that reason, but it’s not me.

My reasoning for not watching isn’t because I’m cheap, either, though many of my friends would argue that’s probably it. I am, in fact, so cheap, that I would find a way to watch for free (friends nodding heads, yes).

I’m not watching because boxing isn’t interesting. It hasn’t really been interesting since before Mike Tyson started biting opponent’s ears off (1997).

Boxing at this weight (both around 145 pounds) is even less interesting. Can any casual … can you even call someone not into boxing a casual fan, because, when is the last fight the “casual” fan has even watched? This is probably the first time many have ever thought they were interested in a boxing – at least in the last decade.

Why are you interested in this fight?

It’s not what’s going to happen in the ring, because neither of these guys are in their prime – Manny Pacquiao (57-5-2) is 36 and Mayweather (47-0-0) is 38. And neither is going to knock the other out (it doesn’t happen often with 145-pound guys).

What’s making this fight interesting is dirty. It makes me itchy thinking about and even itchier that I’m adding to the hype. It’s simply clever marketing surrounding Mayweather, the devil, vs. the Pacquiao … not the devil. We simply want to see someone beat up the woman beater, as many of us would like to do the same. 

This seems to be Mayweather’s ploy lately, because he’s not apologetic about his convictions from abuse, so, now, for some reason, we want to see him beaten, too.

Maybe it’s because of Ray Rice and Co. that domestic violence has come – finally – to the forefront of our attention and these devils are making ridiculous amounts of money off our dime from it (or despite it). Maybe it’s because … um, that’s it, right? I don’t know why else we’re interested in Mayweather-Pacquiao. 

Most of us have barely watched boxing. Do you remember Mayweather’s last fight? It came in 2013 against Marcos Maidana. Pacquiao’s last one came in late 2014 against Chris Algieri. Who and who?

Exactly. Everyone is buying into the hype and, after a round or two, everyone’s going to come to the realization again – or for the first time, because this is the first time they’ve actually tried to watch boxing – that this isn’t interesting and wonder, “Are the Clippers-Spurs still on?” OK, wait, that last part would just be me … if I were watching the bout.