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by David P. Greisman - We would prefer for the stories to be the fights. After all, the premise behind boxing is simple but beautiful: two men at conflict for 12 rounds or less, using hits and wits as they vie for victory.
But sometimes circumstances dictate that we focus elsewhere. What happens outside of those 400 square feet of elevated canvas can be of just as much import.
What happens outside of the ring can be downright ridiculous.
And so the saga of whether Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. will fight has taken turns both maddening and bizarre.
And so the sudden substitution of Samuel Peter in place of Alexander Povetkin as an opponent for Wladimir Klitschko comes with several explanations.
And so Danny Green’s one-punch knockout of Paul Briggs – from a glancing jab – raises questions of outside impropriety, ranging from the scandalous (Briggs taking a dive in a fixed fight) to the dangerous (Briggs going down because he never should’ve been allowed in the ring to begin with).
And when all of this happens in the span of days?
We get what might have been the most ridiculous week in boxing. With very little of it involving actual boxing.
Had events – and egos – dictated otherwise, the story this week would have been a fight between the two best fighters, pound-for-pound, of the past decade: Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr.
We were told that negotiations – with HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg serving as an intermediary between Bob Arum (Pacquiao’s promoter) and Al Haymon (Mayweather’s adviser) – had produced an agreement, that all that was needed was Mayweather’s signature.
Then we were told there was a deadline.
Then we were told the deadline had passed for exclusive negotiations, but that the fight was still possible should Mayweather want it. [Click Here To Read More]
But sometimes circumstances dictate that we focus elsewhere. What happens outside of those 400 square feet of elevated canvas can be of just as much import.
What happens outside of the ring can be downright ridiculous.
And so the saga of whether Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. will fight has taken turns both maddening and bizarre.
And so the sudden substitution of Samuel Peter in place of Alexander Povetkin as an opponent for Wladimir Klitschko comes with several explanations.
And so Danny Green’s one-punch knockout of Paul Briggs – from a glancing jab – raises questions of outside impropriety, ranging from the scandalous (Briggs taking a dive in a fixed fight) to the dangerous (Briggs going down because he never should’ve been allowed in the ring to begin with).
And when all of this happens in the span of days?
We get what might have been the most ridiculous week in boxing. With very little of it involving actual boxing.
Had events – and egos – dictated otherwise, the story this week would have been a fight between the two best fighters, pound-for-pound, of the past decade: Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr.
We were told that negotiations – with HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg serving as an intermediary between Bob Arum (Pacquiao’s promoter) and Al Haymon (Mayweather’s adviser) – had produced an agreement, that all that was needed was Mayweather’s signature.
Then we were told there was a deadline.
Then we were told the deadline had passed for exclusive negotiations, but that the fight was still possible should Mayweather want it. [Click Here To Read More]
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