Media types will spend the next several days discussing, analyzing, and pointing fingers of blame towards those they feel were responsible for the unraveling of Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather’s fight on March 13, 2010.
When the cameras roll, microphones flip on, and keyboards click, the likely scapegoats will be Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao, Bob Arum, or Richard Schaefer, depending on the view point and beliefs of the critics.
Of course, those directly involved in the negotiations for the fights and the combatants themselves deserve plenty of blame for the inability to make a highly profitable and marketable bout that would bring boxing back into the public spotlight into fruition.
Maybe the media, including myself, need to take their wagging finger of blame and turn it back around to ourselves.
This fight was derailed on the demands of Olympic style drug testing by Floyd Mayweather and the timing of these tests, which were not agreeable to Pacquiao.
Why would Mayweather want a drug test outside the usual one prescribed by the State of Nevada for all boxing bouts? Because in the media, some writers let it be known that there were figures in boxing that believe that Pacquiao’s climb to greatness – from flyweight to welterweight – could not be done without drugs that are illegal.
Where did these stories filled with boxing figures accusing Pacquiao proliferate? In the new digital media.
Could you imagine a traditional paper, back in the 1970s, running a story of this nature on Muhammad Ali?
Imagine the headline, “Joe Frazier says Ali’s greatness fueled by uppers!”
No way would a story like that run.
But today, when just about everyone has access to publish stories via a blog, or by creating a website, everyone has access to a voice. No matter how misguided or inaccurate, everyone who wants to, has a voice. [Floyd Mayweather Senior confirmed his belief that Manny used drugs on an Internet based radio show, as well as Paulie Malignaggi.]
So while the new media can be a tremendous watchdog, or an avenue for independent writers, it can also help fuel baseless inaccuracies.
The new media, helped sink THE fight
