SHOULD WE CARE TO PAY FOR MANNY & ERIK?
Cambridge, MA-$50 is a lot of money. It is a price, however, that the dedicated boxing fan has been forced to adapt to by the rapid commercial evolution of the sport. It is the decision that fans must make every time a fight of remotely decent caliber presents itself. When once Pay-Per-View fights were few and far in between, and, at such times, presented the legends of the day- Oscar De La Hoya (38-4, 30 KOs), Evander Holyfield (39-8-2, 26 KOs), and ”Sugar Ray” Leonard (36-3-1, 25 KOs), to name a few- the decision was an easy one to make: the fights were worth it.
DISSECTING THE WORLD OF PAY PER VIEW BOXING
In contemporary times, however, the egregious elevation of fights that range from torturously boring to slightly tolerable to PPV status has obligated the fans to proceed with caution when giving up a significant portion of their paychecks to the sport’s multi-million dollar industry. They have to survive walking through a minefield of Hasim Rahman-Oleg Maskaev lullaby fights in order to occasionally find a satisfying boxing experience. Satisfying, of course, means many things to many people, but there are a few general guidelines to take into consideration when attempting to reason through buying a PPV fight.
“FIGHT CHICK” LIKE “FREE THINKER” LEO!
Whether the broadcast will be an original fight- that is, whether it will contribute to boxing history in a unique and previously unheard of way- should be first and most important on the list of considerations before accepting the $50 charge. If one can determine the outcome of the fight with certainty, there is no point to watching the fight, unless either of or both of the fighters display such extraordinary talent and grace that watching them, regardless of the outcome, makes the fight worthwhile. Even when this is the case, nothing stops a fan from watching older fights in which the talented boxer has engaged for free on HBO or Showtime reruns or old videotapes of the fights.
PEOPLE SEEM OVEREAGER TO DROP THEIR COINS
It is a sad day for boxing when promoters can broadcast the same mediocre fight three times and still have people throw $50 bills at them and hopping up and down, their legs propped up like kangaroos, in anticipation of it.
MATCHES NOTHING LIKE LITTLE ALI-FRAZIER
The first time Erik Morales (48-4, 34 KOs) and Manny Pacquiao (42-3-2, 33 KOs) met in the ring, they gave the audience everything a boxing crowd asks for: gratuitous blood, generous amounts of punching, minimal holding, and a full 12-round fight. It was an evenly matched fight more than anything else; neither fighter flaunted a style anyone would call legendary or unforgettable, nor was the fight itself a spectacular display of talent, but it was competitive and kept the crowd on its feet. Switch the places of the winner and the loser of the first fight, and you have Pacquiao-Morales II. Same exact scenario, same styles, same competition, different winner. Halfway through the second fight, when the deja vu really sets in, you realize that you don’t really care about the outcome of the fight. The only people who are justified in having cared did so for patriotic reasons. And the same will go for Morales-Pacquiao III. The only people who will be justified in having any interest in the outcome of the fight after the sixth round, when both fighters look like they stuffed their faces into blenders and pushed the “Puree” button, are justified because they are experiencing a political experience, not an athletic one.
IS IT JUST THE SAME OLD SONG?
Repetition alone leads to ennui. Especially with fighters such as Morales and Pacquiao who, despite being able to systematically beat an opponent into submission, lack what many frustrated hangers-on to the boxing world condescendingly label “flair”, and I will choose to call charisma. Nothing either fighter does is intrinsically interesting or entertaining to watch. Neither fighter does anything innovative in the ring, and base of the fights’ entertainment is the end result of their mutual mutilation, not exactly the means by which their bodies got to how they look after the fight. Sure, Pacquiao gets the job done with most opponents, which is more than the average fighter can claim, and Morales has held his own with a few above-average stars- most notably for both fighters, Marco Antonio Barrera (63-4, 42 KOs)- but is the effort they put into their matches in terms of creativity worth another $50, a sum of money that could be used towards paying your HBO or Showtime bills so you can watch the reruns of every PPV fight a week afterwards?
NOW “FIGHT CHICK” ASKS YOU THE $50 QUESTION?
On the weekend of November 18, ask yourselves why before you make your decisions. Ask yourselves why Morales and Pacquiao have decided to face each other for a third time within a span of little more than a year, when true legends like Muhammad Ali (56-5, 37 KOs) and Joe Frazier (32-4-1, 37 KOs) completed their trilogies in quadruple the amount of time. Ask yourselves how different this fight will be from the previous two, and how much more joy you can extract from the money you will put into this fight. If your reason has lead you to Morales-Pacquiao III on that Saturday, by all means enjoy yourselves, but remember that few of us have unlimited bank accounts ready for whenever the whim of the PPV gods demands monetary satisfaction, and you never know when the next great fight is around the corner.
