Floyd Mayweather will stand taller than Manny Pacquiao not only in the ring but in the pantheon of boxing?s all-time greats.
Yet the fight which put beyond all argument that he is the finest boxer of his generation will not rank even close to the epic encounters of the prize-ring?s golden age.
None other than Sugar Ray Leonard himself was among the many hoping that the Money Man versus the PacMan would put the fight game back atop the glorious pedestal once occupied by himself, Tommy Hearns, Marvin Hagler and Roberto Duran.
No such luck.
Not that Mayweather needed any to fend off a challenge from Pacquiao which was spirited but not relentless, willing but not thrilling, adequate but not eye-catching of the judges.
All he had to do was fight his usual, masterly, defend-and-counter, hit and run, adapt as he goes fight.
That is not to deny the brilliance of his craftsmanship.
This is a very clever act indeed. Never mind David Copperfield, who also performs at the MGM Grand, Mayweather is probably the best illusionist in Las Vegas.
He has just made up to $200million disappear into his well-stuffed bank account by putting on a show in which he expended only the necessary minimum of effort and which failed to bring the house down
Here was an admirable example of an intelligent, orderly disciplined exposition of the noble art of self defence.
Yet as a Saturday night out at the theatre it was neither dramatic nor exciting.
This was chess in a boxing ring, which caught the intellect without entertaining the audience. It was not, as had been hoped, the fight to ignite the sport.
