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Philippines, 17 May 2024 |
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COLUMN: IF I WERE IN MAYWEATHER?S SHOES... By Aquiles Z. Zonio PhilBoxing.com Thu, 14 May 2015  MAYBE, many of us have already forgotten that boxing is both a sport and an art. This is the reason why it is called sweet science. Muhammad Ali, considered as the greatest boxer ever, was admired and revered for his fighting style. He was, no doubt, an epitome of the sweet science. The phrase ?Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,? one of Ali?s battle raps, summed everything up. Ali made boxing a thing of beauty during his time. Ali was, to me, Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather combined. Ali dubbed Pacquiao ?Little Ali? after the first Pacquiao-Marquez bout. They were legendary in terms of personal achievements both inside and outside the ring. Their fighting style is pleasing, endearing themselves more to the fans. Mayweather, on the other hand, is an embodiment of a humdrum prize fighter. He?s only good at running, ducking and dancing around the ring. Mayweather?s ascent to the top personifies what we call crass measures of success. He is nowhere near Ali. He is boxing?s defense genius, okay. He floats like a butterfly, but he does not sting like a bee. He never hurt Pacquiao during their fight. Outside the ring, he?s not a good role model. That makes Mayweather a lesser mortal compared to Ali and Pacquiao. Win or loss, Pacquiao always returns home a hero and a champion. His home country lays out a red carpet welcome for his every homecoming. Mayweather, sad to say, returns home forlorn in Grand Rapids, Michigan. There?s no celebration, there?s no fanfare despite his victory. Only his team celebrates with him. During and after their May 2 mega-buck fight, Mayweather was literally the loser while Pacquiao was virtually the runaway winner. Adding salt to Mayweather?s injury was Boxing News 24?s statistics showing that Pacquiao won that fight. Boxing News 24 gathered a team of leading boxing commentators to scrutinize the video tape of Pacquiao-Mayweather fight. First, the team watched it in actual speed, then in slow motion, and finally frame by frame. After meticulously reviewing the video tape of the fight, the team scored the punches made by each boxer and came up with statistics which further put to question and suspicion the result of the compubox and the verdict made by the three judges. According to the statistics generated by Boxing News 24?s team, Mayweather indeed threw more punches than Pacquiao. Mayweather threw a total of 471 punches as compared to Pacquiao?s 414. However, only 68 of Mayweather?s 471 punches landed. Pacquiao managed to land a total of 98 punches. How can a running fighter, who obviously refused to engage, win that fight? Pacquiao was the aggressor for the whole duration of the bout despite his right shoulder injury. Yet, many fans unfairly criticized Pacquiao for his failure to satiate their appetite for violence and bloody brawl. I said unfair because it?s not Pacquiao?s sole responsibility to make the fight entertaining. In fact, Pacquiao made a supreme sacrifice by trading punches with Mayweather despite being a one-fisted fighter. Pacquiao made a great sacrifice by agreeing on all terms and conditions imposed by Mayweather just to make sure the fight is in the bag. Pacquiao made all this for the sake of the fans, for the good of boxing. The fans should vent their criticisms and anger on Mayweather. I was an eyewitness how hard he trained during the two-month?s training camp. He was on the way to recovery but not 100 percent when he climbed up the ring. He was given a go signal by his doctor. Meaning, he was fit to fight. I noticed, as I was sitting just a few meters away from the ring, that he was not using his potent right hand often. Pacquiao pummeled Mayweather with a flurry of punches in the fourth round but surprisingly he backed down. So, uncharacteristic of a fearless warrior like Pacman. Obviously, the injury had recurred. You see, the one-handed Filipino fighter scared the hell out of a lily-livered American boxer. I thought Mayweather would slug it out as he pledged. To our great dismay, he did not. Floyd ran away, danced and clinched every time Pacquiao unleashed a barrage of punches. Floyd turned the boxing match into a track contest and an obscene hugging-clutching spectacle. Mayweather's fighting style almost bored me to death. I saw him running so I was expecting a Pacman win. I fell into a deep slumber. I was caught snoring by my seatmate. He shook me up and said the fight was over. I woke up with my worst nightmare, ever. The judges handed down a shameful unanimous decision victory to Mayweather. Pacquiao was robbed of victory. He was not alone, ?though. The fans, too, were robbed of their money and their joy by Mayweather and the judges. These people are the ones killing the sport of boxing. If I were to decide, there should be no rematch. Mayweather is nothing but a slave of money and his ego. He doesn?t care about the fans especially the ordinary ones. Mayweather does not deserve such a high pay because only himself, his dad and his ilk were enjoying the show. Pacman deserves every single cent of what he earned. If I were in Mayweather?s shoes, I would die of shame and anguish. Click here to view a list of other articles written by Aquiles Z. Zonio.  |
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