The Mayweather Method: Find an opponent who has zero chance of ever hitting you, much less hurting you, but who has some credentials, possibly a meaningless title won against inferior competition. Hype the mismatch for months, somehow convincing people eventually that the 7-1 underdog has a real chance. Convince the world that this is a grudge match, that you've been disrespected. Counterpunch to an easy victory, without ever really exchanging or risking being hit. Collect millions from those you've conned. Rant about how much you want to fight Pacquiao, even though you know you'll never fight him. Deposit money. Repeat annually, or maybe every 18 months or so. Wonder why nobody gives you credit for being the greatest of all time!
--Jon, Waite Park, Minnesota
This is an argument heard a lot, Jon. In this week's Sports Illustrated I write an essay saying, essentially, that this string of good-but-not-great fighters has to stop. Mayweather is very good at selling a fight; he was born to play the heel on 24/7. For that reason he doesn't have to fight Manny Pacquiao, because he can collect $30 to $40 million fighting Ortiz-like opponents.
I think the dude was onto something. But he forgets at the end of the day PBF always wins. Granted it may seem easy to beat people that virtually don't have a chance against you minus three the max. But still it has to be difficult to mentally prepare yourself for not allowing a metal lapse to allow a fighter that is beneath you to cause problems. He made mistakes with Chop Chop, but corrected that. He made a mistake with Shane and corrected it for the easy win it was destined to be. He corrected that when he fought castillio and showed he was not in the game by totally outclassing dude. You got to give him credit for those in ring exploits. I do believe he does take the easy fights. But you can do that in boxing. You can even never fight the best in your weight class and be called great. That is where boxing is today. It is pretty much like WWE. At least in wrestling the best fight the best and not use ploys that you don't even defend you point in court over or lie to stupid fans about bullshit about how Manny came up from 105. That shows you how WWE like the sport is. Just like those wrestlers. You can deny the talent and skills they have. But when you don't witness them in real competitive matches it mirrors boxing. This goes for all the boxing champs that do this crap these days.
The turning point for me was after BHOP fought Taylor. Bhop went into the ring Hollywood style. He had accolades, tv spots, and GBP in his pockets. He went into that fight thinking I'm above it all and instead of being against the machine he was a part of it. And lost twice because of that. I think it was an eye opener to people that even when you win. You have to put money and entertainment value over facing the biggest comp out there. It is just two risky to do that. Then a fighter can see PBF rise up to the highest level without really facing one threat except for Oscar. Which for him was worth it because it was his biggest payday. Boxing needs to change from this dropping titles and allowing mismatches be potrayed as great events. Superfights is a term we have not seen in a long time.Boxing fans deserved better. And the best fighters should want to do that for the fans.
--Jon, Waite Park, Minnesota
This is an argument heard a lot, Jon. In this week's Sports Illustrated I write an essay saying, essentially, that this string of good-but-not-great fighters has to stop. Mayweather is very good at selling a fight; he was born to play the heel on 24/7. For that reason he doesn't have to fight Manny Pacquiao, because he can collect $30 to $40 million fighting Ortiz-like opponents.
I think the dude was onto something. But he forgets at the end of the day PBF always wins. Granted it may seem easy to beat people that virtually don't have a chance against you minus three the max. But still it has to be difficult to mentally prepare yourself for not allowing a metal lapse to allow a fighter that is beneath you to cause problems. He made mistakes with Chop Chop, but corrected that. He made a mistake with Shane and corrected it for the easy win it was destined to be. He corrected that when he fought castillio and showed he was not in the game by totally outclassing dude. You got to give him credit for those in ring exploits. I do believe he does take the easy fights. But you can do that in boxing. You can even never fight the best in your weight class and be called great. That is where boxing is today. It is pretty much like WWE. At least in wrestling the best fight the best and not use ploys that you don't even defend you point in court over or lie to stupid fans about bullshit about how Manny came up from 105. That shows you how WWE like the sport is. Just like those wrestlers. You can deny the talent and skills they have. But when you don't witness them in real competitive matches it mirrors boxing. This goes for all the boxing champs that do this crap these days.
The turning point for me was after BHOP fought Taylor. Bhop went into the ring Hollywood style. He had accolades, tv spots, and GBP in his pockets. He went into that fight thinking I'm above it all and instead of being against the machine he was a part of it. And lost twice because of that. I think it was an eye opener to people that even when you win. You have to put money and entertainment value over facing the biggest comp out there. It is just two risky to do that. Then a fighter can see PBF rise up to the highest level without really facing one threat except for Oscar. Which for him was worth it because it was his biggest payday. Boxing needs to change from this dropping titles and allowing mismatches be potrayed as great events. Superfights is a term we have not seen in a long time.Boxing fans deserved better. And the best fighters should want to do that for the fans.
