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“I met this girl when I was 10 years old,
And what I loved most, she had so much soul…”
Common- I used to love H.E.R
Love can hurt, especially when the one you love shows no signs of loving you back. This past week, the sport of boxing definitively said, “I don’t love you”, to any and all of its remaining fans.
Boxing’s “Super Bowl” was called off because neither side was able to negotiate an amicable resolution with regards to random blood testing. Floyd Mayweather wanted Manny Pacquiao to agree to random blood testing, with a 14-day, no blood testing window, leading up to the fight. Pacquiao agreed to drug testing under the supervision of the Nevada Athletic Commission but wouldn’t budge on his 24-day window stance.
Regardles of which side you find at fault, the end result is both Pacquiao and Mayweather, Jr will be fighting March 13, just not against one another.
Joshua Clottey vs Manny Pacquiao is now set to take place March 13 at Dallas Cowboys Stadium. Months and months of hype for what was deemed to be a “Blood Feud” with Mayweather will now give way to a Pacquiao fight against Clottey, a man who was most recently defeated by Miguel Cotto.
This isn’t a compelling replacement. With all due respect to Joshua Clottey, this is the equivalent of the NFL placing the Detroit Lions in the Super Bowl as the NFC representative because they were more willing to accept the required terms in the television contract. Clottey isn’t the worst choice imaginable; this fight isn’t worth $59.99, it isn’t worth following either fighter on HBO’s “24/7″, and it’s disheartening to any boxing fanatic.
It may not seem fair to blame to state of boxing on two spoiled fighters, but in reality, this fight was botched by the biggest power players in the sport. Bob Arum, Oscar De La Hoya and Richard Schaefer (Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions) are names that move mountains. The fact that these players could not lock themselves up in a room and make a deal is appalling; If HBO and Showtime could come together to make Lennox Lewis-Mike Tyson, anything is possible. Someone should have been standing guard at the door, with all relevant parties locked inside, and no one should have been allowed to leave or enter until a deal was made. No bathroom breaks, only Sbarro’s pizza for lunch/dinner and John Singleton’s “Baby Boy” playing on several televisions in the room.
Loving boxing is like loving a woman. Not just any woman, but a former top of the line model/actress who in her own mind, still considers herself as beautiful as she used to be (Madonna, anyone?). She still looks at other women (sports) dismissively, although it’s actually been years since she has been the top model in the world. Even so, there is still two to three times a year where the world revolves around her, and when it does, she typically lives up to some of the expectations.
The fact of the matter remains that she is selfish. She picks and chooses her positions and is too wrapped up in her own issues and politics to be concerned about the wishes of others. She is still beautiful to me because I’ve loved her for over a decade now. But like love, time can change any situation.
Her arrogance in the rare moments when she has the world’s attention has opened the door for another woman in my life. (MMA. Now imagine a slightly less glamorous woman but with the ability to “clean up” well. Think Mandy Moore) This new woman has never been the top model in the world, but she has very high aspirations and potential. It doesn’t just feel like she loves me back; it feels like she might love me more than I love her.
MMA is by no means perfect, but it hits home where boxing no longer cares. MMA promotional grorup Strikeforce signed a significantly disproportionate deal with Fedor Emelianenko and his Russian mob in order to bolster its heavyweight division and thus put on more credible and exciting fights for its fans. UFC’s Dana White acts more as a fan of the sport than its most powerful figure. For instance, he didn’t order a Machida/Rua rematch in May for business purposes; (the event didn’t have more than 450,000 buys) he ordered a rematch because as a fan, he disagreed with the decision of the first fight.
Boxing’s time as the top sport in the world has obviously passed. But there are moments when the sport is able to seize control of the public consciousness and be seated in the spotlight. It had an opportunity to make millions care about it again, but greed and selfishness spoiled a golden opportunity.
At some point, boxing will matter again, but for now, it only matters to the few who can love it without receiving any sort of love in return.
She’ll always be beautiful to me, but sometimes, being beautiful just isn’t good enough.
And what I loved most, she had so much soul…”
Common- I used to love H.E.R
Love can hurt, especially when the one you love shows no signs of loving you back. This past week, the sport of boxing definitively said, “I don’t love you”, to any and all of its remaining fans.
Boxing’s “Super Bowl” was called off because neither side was able to negotiate an amicable resolution with regards to random blood testing. Floyd Mayweather wanted Manny Pacquiao to agree to random blood testing, with a 14-day, no blood testing window, leading up to the fight. Pacquiao agreed to drug testing under the supervision of the Nevada Athletic Commission but wouldn’t budge on his 24-day window stance.
Regardles of which side you find at fault, the end result is both Pacquiao and Mayweather, Jr will be fighting March 13, just not against one another.
Joshua Clottey vs Manny Pacquiao is now set to take place March 13 at Dallas Cowboys Stadium. Months and months of hype for what was deemed to be a “Blood Feud” with Mayweather will now give way to a Pacquiao fight against Clottey, a man who was most recently defeated by Miguel Cotto.
This isn’t a compelling replacement. With all due respect to Joshua Clottey, this is the equivalent of the NFL placing the Detroit Lions in the Super Bowl as the NFC representative because they were more willing to accept the required terms in the television contract. Clottey isn’t the worst choice imaginable; this fight isn’t worth $59.99, it isn’t worth following either fighter on HBO’s “24/7″, and it’s disheartening to any boxing fanatic.
It may not seem fair to blame to state of boxing on two spoiled fighters, but in reality, this fight was botched by the biggest power players in the sport. Bob Arum, Oscar De La Hoya and Richard Schaefer (Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions) are names that move mountains. The fact that these players could not lock themselves up in a room and make a deal is appalling; If HBO and Showtime could come together to make Lennox Lewis-Mike Tyson, anything is possible. Someone should have been standing guard at the door, with all relevant parties locked inside, and no one should have been allowed to leave or enter until a deal was made. No bathroom breaks, only Sbarro’s pizza for lunch/dinner and John Singleton’s “Baby Boy” playing on several televisions in the room.
Loving boxing is like loving a woman. Not just any woman, but a former top of the line model/actress who in her own mind, still considers herself as beautiful as she used to be (Madonna, anyone?). She still looks at other women (sports) dismissively, although it’s actually been years since she has been the top model in the world. Even so, there is still two to three times a year where the world revolves around her, and when it does, she typically lives up to some of the expectations.
The fact of the matter remains that she is selfish. She picks and chooses her positions and is too wrapped up in her own issues and politics to be concerned about the wishes of others. She is still beautiful to me because I’ve loved her for over a decade now. But like love, time can change any situation.
Her arrogance in the rare moments when she has the world’s attention has opened the door for another woman in my life. (MMA. Now imagine a slightly less glamorous woman but with the ability to “clean up” well. Think Mandy Moore) This new woman has never been the top model in the world, but she has very high aspirations and potential. It doesn’t just feel like she loves me back; it feels like she might love me more than I love her.
MMA is by no means perfect, but it hits home where boxing no longer cares. MMA promotional grorup Strikeforce signed a significantly disproportionate deal with Fedor Emelianenko and his Russian mob in order to bolster its heavyweight division and thus put on more credible and exciting fights for its fans. UFC’s Dana White acts more as a fan of the sport than its most powerful figure. For instance, he didn’t order a Machida/Rua rematch in May for business purposes; (the event didn’t have more than 450,000 buys) he ordered a rematch because as a fan, he disagreed with the decision of the first fight.
Boxing’s time as the top sport in the world has obviously passed. But there are moments when the sport is able to seize control of the public consciousness and be seated in the spotlight. It had an opportunity to make millions care about it again, but greed and selfishness spoiled a golden opportunity.
At some point, boxing will matter again, but for now, it only matters to the few who can love it without receiving any sort of love in return.
She’ll always be beautiful to me, but sometimes, being beautiful just isn’t good enough.
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