This weekend?s proceedings in Las Vegas have already begun to roll straightforward and with a great head of steam.
Let?s not confuse that with the proverbial steam that may protrude from our ears when we get our respective cable bills in a month or so and see the toll charges of nearly eighty American dollars for a bout that for many may have been as anticipated as Rob Ford?s next excuse. Still and with much force fed reasoning, a Floyd Mayweather, Jr. bout is still an event and a reason for many to pencil certain Saturdays in May and September as a night out or a night off.
We likely still find ourselves asking for reasons from within why we should fork over another sizeable chunk of change for what many inside and outside of the boxing know have coined yet another ?glorified sparring session?.
Some have urged for a boycott of the bout known as ?The Moment?, most likely because of the MGM Grand?s recent treatment and representation of boxing?s ?good son?, the one and only Manny Pacquiao.
Having seen the evidence firsthand a few weeks ago, this writer somewhat understood the anger and lack of respect felt by the Top Rank brass. It was true. There wasn?t much representation inside the actual venue for the rematch between Pacquiao and Tim Bradley. At the same time, an immediate understanding should rightfully surface regardless on which side of the argument we stand. We continue to stomach the school like tags given to Mayweather?s contests and the vast majority of them were about as visually exciting as a game of Jenga without any holes.
?The Moment? isn?t quite as silly as ?Star Power? or ?May Day?. Floyd?s most recent bout with Saul ?Canelo? Alvarez was of course, ?The One? even though most of knew it could have just as easily been, ?Still the One?. What seems to be absent from Saturday?s fight is Mayweather?s usual contempt for his opponents. It may be because he?s aware that Marcos ?El Chino? Maidana has the punching power to send his head backward and pin it between his shoulder blades. Would our $74.95 ?ker-plunk? feel like money well spent if that were to occur?
Some may very well seek to send a rebate to the sponsoring beer company as opposed to vice-versa. The marketing for the contest has been the usual snippets during basketball games and the like. It seems a bit redundant, but it?s still more realistic than beer commercials where everyone is glamorous, thin and simply holding the bottle of Corona instead of actually drinking it. Regardless, most of us will end up watching the bout simply because we love the sport or know that curiosity won?t kill this cat. It may instead leave it lighter in the wallet.
Floyd Mayweather, Jr. (45-0, 26 KO?s) will continue to stoke the flames in regard to a bout somewhere down the line with the aforementioned Pacquiao. At the very least, fans of the prize fighting game can be grateful that Floyd has promised (as of yesterday) to bring the fight to the hard punching Maidana (35-3, 31 KO?s), which would be a stark contrast from the speed traps and rolling shoulder defense he continues to use en route to another win.
On Saturday night you?re not going to see the Floyd Mayweather. I?ll be right there going toe-to-toe?, said the undefeated Las Vegas native upon his arrival yesterday at the MGM Grand. Wouldn?t that be a grand at the Grand? Floyd would be known for a while as a fighter and not a boxer and bullet dodger! We?ll believe it when see it. Of course, no fighter is an island in the world and so another Mayweather nod-off session shouldn?t surprise any of us too much.
Marcos Maidana has the power and more so the chutzpa to knock out a rhinoceros, so we can all hope that his fire is met with more gasoline from the receiving end of his assault. If not, the undercard may have some exciting moments of its own. Until then rest assured that close to no one is even close to giving Maidana a ten-armed puncher?s chance. The betting houses know ?Money? when they see it, as we would need to cough up a C-note times ten to even have a chance at winning one back.
Floyd has a chance to really win some fans (not back, but for the first time) if he really shows us what it?s like for him to work for an upwards type of forty million dollar payday. Don?t count it. Such a strategy is far from ?safety first?. That may be why ?The Moment? is seen as but a moment in time and one you can?t get back once you?ve pressed the Order button on your remote.
The sport?s ?Bible of Boxing? and its respective panel of bloggers are picking Floyd by a margin of 46-0. The MGM Grand itself merely replaces the name of Mayweather?s opponent on its massive tapestry which faces Tropicana Avenue.
The biggest goat has to be whoever designed the fight?s official website. Unless the information has changed, hurry over to http://www.themomentppv.com. Across the upper tiles, click ?fighters?, which is fourth from the left. One doesn?t have to be a boxing aficionado to view even further proof that Marcos Maidana is viewed as but another ?Fill in the Bank? (not blank) notch in the Mayweather empire?s list of vanquished challengers.
