The Mayweather vs Pacquiao fight will be a let down!

I can’t go anywhere or read anything without seeing or hearing something about this fight. The hype and hysteria regarding Mayweather and Pacquiao is everywhere. The good thing is that it is finally going to happen. The bad thing, in my opinion, is that it can only be a let down. First of all, the fight is happening five years too late. Consequently, instead of seeing a rematch or trilogy bout in what could have been one of the best sports, let alone boxing series, of all time; we are seeing the first and possibly only installment between the two most popular fighters in the world, much too late.

Don’t get me wrong, this event is huge, and the fight is going to have more buzz and money involved than any fights before it, and likely for a decade or more after it is all said and done. I mean, we are looking at two fighters possibly splitting a reported $300 million, according to Bob Arum of Top Rank. Ticket sales are rumored to blow the roof off with beyond high demand for this fight, and they won’t be paid for by true boxing fans. The tickets will be occupied and reserved by the remarkably rich and famous; individuals that make up less than one percent of the population and who generally don’t know much about boxing. I have read that as few as 1000 tickets would even be released to the public because of the outrageous demand and financial magnitude involved with this fight, and that tickets for those individuals crazy and wealthy enough to buy one, could pay anywhere from $3000 to $250,000 dollars per seat.

Aside from the absurd financial dynamics behind this fight contributing to the unrealistic expectations; if you also take into account all of the years of talk and failures for it to happen, all of the banter back and forth between each respected fighters’ fans and media over the years, all the difficulties between having to deal with multiple promoters (Top Rank and Golden Boy) and multiple networks (HBO and Showtime), and PPV numbers expected to be around 5 million purchases or more (nearly double of any fight before this); how could it possibly live up to expectations.

When it comes right down to it, we have two men nearing 40 years old who are much closer to retirement than the prime of their careers. That said, although it might be entertaining, who wants to see Kobe Bryant play Michael Jordan one on one now? Okay, that is pretty exaggerated as a metaphor, but for me, it’s not that far off. I am not nearly as excited or interested in this fight as I would have been in 2010 or 2011. Again, don’t get me wrong, I will still fork out the $100 it’s going to cost to watch on PPV, but I am not going to break the bank to get a room in Las Vegas for that weekend and pay like $250 for a closed circuit ticket or take a lean against my house to get a ticket to the fight. I will instead be at my house with close friends and family, grilling some skirt steak, grabbing beverages from the cooler, and relaxing on my couch before all of us and everyone ringside and across the world are saying what the !!!!; WHAT A LET DOWN!

This fight, despite what many people have said over the years, is not necessary to save boxing or bring it back to popularity. Boxing is doing just fine right now and it will be just fine after the let down. Frankly, I would be more excited to watch Miguel Cotto or Canelo Alvarez versus Gannady Golovkin, or Lucas Matthysse versus Ruslan Provodnikov, or even Danny Garcia versus say a Terrance Crawford if he were to move up in weight and promoters could make it happen. All I am saying, is those type of fights, although nowhere near this kind of hype behind them as far as laymen fans go, they would sure be fun to watch and are exactly the reason boxing continues to do just fine. As far as this one goes, I see both fighters feeling each other out for a few rounds and then being somewhat competitive for another few rounds before Mayweather figures Manny out and coasts through the second half of the fight to a unanimous decision like he does with everyone else. Then we move on.