Unfortunately it did not live up to it’s billing.
The meeting between 5 time division champion Floyd Money Mayweather ( 48 wins, 26 knockouts, 22 decisions and 0 losses) against * time division world champion Emanuel ( Manny) Pacquiao (57 wins, 38 knockouts, 19 decisions, 2 draws, and 6 losses resulting in 3 knockouts and 3 decisions), resulted in a tactical fight with very few fireworks and a Mayweather chess match.
Manny was very slow and possibly apprehensive to come forward recklessly towards Mayweather from the beginning rounds which allowed Mayweather to set the tone and the pace of the fight.
The crowd was very pro Manny and although the chants and boos were strong in the arena, they did not have any effect on either fighter as many of the rounds were going into Mayweather’s bank account as the fight grew into the later rounds.
Pacquiao did manage to get in a few shots winning some rounds in the bout, but they were a little too late and few. There was one point during the broadcast where Floyd Mayweather Sr. did ask his son to ” Quit fighting Scared”. Hard to believe Mayweather would be fighting scared but he was very elusive and tied Pacquiao up several times during the match and was never warned for excessive holding.
As the final rounds came 10, 11, and 12 many of us expected Pacquiao to go for broke. Those are the Championship winning rounds and many great fighters have pulled a magic trick out of their hat winning those crucial but closing last minutes in a world championship fight.
Manny Pacquiao for whatever reasons failed to give what he promised in a fight that would have been better 5 years ago rather than now at their tender ages in the mid and upper 30’s.Mayweather also failed to impress and cruised to a decision win with out risking anything and giving an outstanding performance.
Even for the untrained eye and the not so familiar boxing fan the fight seemed rather dull due to such a build up in the anticipation of a another classic match like Hagler, Hearns,Duran and Leonard of the 1980’s.
It could be very unfair to expect fighters to live up the legendary names in boxing’s history.
Given the coverage,social media publicity and the magnanimous amount of money spent and invested in this fight, many of us expected the best another thriller that would be talked on for ages.
Instead we had to settle for two A+ fighters giving a C+ or B- performance.
Perhaps the future lies in other fighters who are in the horizon ready to display their true grit and bravado.
Maybe GGG, Gennady Golovkin will become a household name but until then the only knockout we have seen this weekend was in our wallets and in our hearts.