By itself, boxing could probably have survived the all-hype, no-substance boring fight that happened last night between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. Really, anyone with an ounce of sense knew exactly how the fight was going to go?Floyd?s style was the Achilles heel of Manny?s strengths, which meant we?d see a low-output, play-it-safe approach that would be devastatingly effective as Floyd continued for 12 rounds to constantly catch Manny off the counter. Scores of 116-112 (twice), 118-110 saw to that. The fight went chalk, and social media lit up with underwhelmed people saying some variation on ?I paid a hundred bucks for THIS??
Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, on TNT at no extra charge for cable and satellite customers, the NBA?s LA Clippers and San Antonio Spurs put on a 48-minute fight that featured 16 ties, 31 lead changes, a ridiculous referee call?Manu Ginobili getting three free throws when Austin Rivers fouled him, making two?and the call shaken off by a massive Eff You moment, with Chris Paul taking the ball back upcourt and hitting a three-pointer at the third quarter buzzer, swinging the final possession by a point. Then, as if that weren?t enough, Paul, on one leg thanks to a hamstring injury, hit the game-winning shot with one second left in the contest, delivering basketball?s equivalent of a boxer knocking out his opponent with a one-punch nighty-night shot five seconds before the bell in Round 12, giving the Clippers the 111-109 victory in Game 7.
