For as long as I’ve been a sports fan, I can’t think of a busier week in sports. NHL + NBA playoffs, NFL Draft, The Kentucky Derby and the Floyd Mayweather v. Manny Pacquiao fight. You know it’s a busy week in sports when the NFL Draft isn’t dominating the headlines; those [the headlines] are being used for the fight, five years in the waiting (no not making, waiting; Mayweather was afraid to fight Pacquiao in his prime).
Just like every big sporting event, there’s a bevy of storylines to keep everyone interested until the day of the fight. The one storyline that’s garnered the most attention involves Mayweather and his relationship with women.
Mayweather is by far one of the most reprehensible human beings to ever walk this earth. He’s abused women numerous times and while he’s “paid his debt to society” he was never truly punished for his crimes. Some of that has to do with the fact that boxing doesn’t have a commissioner to hand out suspensions, and that boxing isn’t a team sport so Mayweather isn’t representing anyone except himself. I believe the real culprit to his [Mayweather’s] lack of “punishment” is from the same group that is now dubbing him a criminal; the media.
Boxing has been a dying sport since the early 90’s. Outside of Mayweather and Pacquiao, can you name another professional boxer? Mayweather has been the star of the sport for over a decade, the one person who had kept this dying sport somewhat relevant. So when he was accused several times for domestic violence and served two months in jail after pleading guilty to “misdemeanor battery domestic violence and harassment” of an ex-girlfriend and the mother of three of his children; no one really batted an eye (Yahoo Sports).
The outrage that has been strung up by the media this week is laughable. Where the hell were they a few years ago (2012) when the Nevada Athletic Gaming Commission allowed Mayweather to fight after he was sentenced to 90 days in jail for the previously mentioned charge? There was no “breaking news” story on any of the major news networks, and ESPN/SportsCenter wasn’t sending Stephen A. Smith to do an all access interview with Mayweather regarding his actions. Instead the media (particularly the sports media) kept quiet, not wanting to incriminate the only star in otherwise meaningless sport.
I’m not saying that the media would have had the power to enforce the Nevada Athletic Gaming Commission to suspend Mayweather for a fight, but they could have shed some light on his deplorable actions. The amount of coverage Mayweather’s past is NOW getting is just a joke. It’s gotten to the point where any sensible person has to question the validity of these “major news networks” claiming that they’re catering to the people. Like every other company in America, three years ago this wouldn’t have given them the ratings that they’re receiving this week; in other words, we [the media] don’t care about certain news stories (or we’ll shelve them until the perfect time) unless it’s going to make us money.
The Fight:
Is there anyone who is actually rooting for Mayweather to win? What self-respecting person is honestly going to root for that man? Picking him to win the fight is one thing, but actually cheering him on is something completely different.
With that being said I believe that Mayweather is going to win the fight, although I’ll be rooting like hell for Pacquiao. I think Mayweather agreed to fight Pacquiao because he knows he has an advantage over him. Now, if they fought five years earlier, the scenario would be very different (Pacquiao would’ve destroyed him); which is why Mayweather is coward and a punk for waiting all this time to fight finally him.
There will be a true “Good vs. Evil” battle going on Saturday night, hopefully this time good will prevail.
Comments from the Sideline 