Here's where you went wrong this Saturday night. You and your friends thought you'd get together for the "fight". You couldn't wait to see the "fight". You actually believed there was going to be a "fight". Sorry, every once in a while a "fight" breaks out during a boxing match, but that was incredibly unlikely to happen with Floyd Mayweather Jr in the ring.

Mayweather Pacquiao
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Boxing is the only sport I've ever followed. I gave it a good ten to fifteen years. My friend Rowdy taught me the ins and outs, the names, the strategies, what to look for a more.  I finally gave it up because it just reeks of false promise, dirty deals and too many people looking to get their share of the money.  Theres too many leagues, too many champions and too much nonsense to even try to take it seriously.

I didn't see last nights fight. I didn't have to. I've seen Mayweather and Pacquiao box many, many times.  Mayweather was always going to dance around the ring throwing an occasional shot and hug it out when there was a chance he could get hit or hurt. The only chance Pacquiao had was to make Mayweather fight and Junior is just too well schooled to let that happen.  This is one of the tragic downfalls about boxing, somewhere along the line it became about not losing rather than winning.  Mayweather is an expert at "not losing".

So is Mayweather the "greatest champion of all time"?  Not really and it's not really even close.  It actually comes down to how you judge the sport.  I'd say Tyson wins in the "fighter" category, Muhammad Ali probably wins for the best combination of offense and defense, but the real deal, probably the absolute best champion of all time should go to Julio Cesar Chavez. There's still a half dozen or more I'd rank way ahead of Mayweather in different boxing terms. As for what title I'd give Mayweather, maybe best defensive fighter (doesn't sound that hot does it?).

The sad part of this is, this was a chance for boxing to shine, to once again leap into prominence and it failed miserably. This was like someone saying "hey everybody forgot how much b.s. boxing can be, so let's get all the money we can before they remember".  So I really expect boxing to go back to a very dark place for another ten years before someone is able to sell the public a bill of goods again. Think about it, after last night who would you pay to see fight? In worse, who would you watch FOR FREE right now if it was on television? The answer is probably: no one.

Note: I'd like to say that I have tremendous respect for boxers and boxing clubs. Most times a "boxer" will even beat a "fighter" in real life. I wish I had the skill set it takes to be in the ring. It's an unbelievable combination of skill, toughness, discipline and strategy.  This blog is about "the game" of  professional  boxing which is just too tainted to be a spectator sport anymore. 

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