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I remember the night I fell in love with boxing like it was yesterday. Nov. 22 1986. I was a little brat only 4 years old growing up in a Puerto Rican house hold. Half of the block was in my small cramped living room screaming and shouting at the tv.
My mother cooked up tons of food and my favorite food lasagna with about 29lbs of cheese sat on the table. I remember trying to squeez past all the adults that smelled of beer and smoke to make it to that meal before all of those people ate it.
My mom's friend Carmen picked me up and sat me on her lap and fed me some while the fight was playing. This was a normal scene at many Puerto Rican house holds back in the 80's and 90's. When Mike Tyson fought one person would order the fight and charge 5 bucks a head and half the block would show up.
I remember sitting on Carmen's lap my head resting against Her chest eating lasagna and how excited she was that Mike Tyson was going to fight. I remember Carmen telling me you see papi that is a real man.
I remember Mike Tyson walking to the ring and everyone cheering and the energy the flowed through the room. I didn't know what was going on but I knew it was good. I knew what I was experiencing was great and I wanted to feel like this all the time.
I remember seeing the big guy getting leveled and everyone jumping and screaming and drinks flying around and Carmen's big boobs hitting my head and I could equate all this to Mike Tyson. I didn't know then that I was witnessing history in the making. I didn't know what a boxing match was. I just knew that lasagna was good Mike Tyson = lasagna so Mike Tyson was good. This was the start of a lifetime of cherishing boxing.
Let us flash forward to 29 years later. What is being dubbed as the fight of the century is about to go down. Floyd Mayweather is finally taking on Manny Pacquiao. Everyone I know is excited about this fight except the die hard boxing fans like myself.
Don't get me wrong it's a fight that had to happen, however I don't view Pacquiao as the fighter everyone else does. I can't name a quality fighter that he has fought and won against in the past 10 years. I know crazy right I mean Juan Manuel Marquez, Timmothy Bradley, what could I possibly be talking about?
I know how the 4 bouts with Marquez went down and I watched them time and time again. I don't see how anyone says Pacquiao won the first 2 fight, To me, to someone that has been watching boxing since he was 4 years old, I saw Marquez beat Pacquiao in those first 2 bouts loose the 3rd and we all know what happened in the 4th.
Tim Bradley didn't seem to be in it to win it against Pacquiao the second fight. I don't know what was wrong but I didn't see Tim Bradley, I saw a timid person barley invested in a fight. There could have been many factors but I'm no one to judge.
All in all what my OPINION about Pacquiao may be it's just an opinion that I am entitled to it.
o·pin·ion
/***601;***712;piny***601;n/
noun
noun: opinion; plural noun: opinions
a view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge.
Over the past 6 or so years I've been going on boxing forums such as Bad Left Hook, Bloody Elbow, Boxing Society, Boxing Scene, and while not a forum Youtube videos from such youtubers as Sidneycello and Donte's Boxing Nation.
I've noticed a startling trend among fans of different boxers. I know maybe many people have noticed it, but I can't stand by without voicing my opinion any longer.
I see in virtually every forum that mentions Mayweather or Pacman or any youtube video that features them comments from people that range from disrespectful to outright hateful and racist.
The main agitators seem to be fans of Manny Pacquiao. I will not sit here and say that it is all of his fans or even a large percent of his fan base, however the ones that do it remain vocally strong.
Under the HBOBoxing youtube video of Manny Pacquiao's greatest hits there is a comment chain that starts with a youtuber that goes by the name of Jason Shaw resonding to Kujien about how pacman didn't really knock Algeri down 6 times that a few of them were slips.
Instantly chimes in the youtube user Carl Bryan Manuel. The first word of his first response is N**** and go look at a Mayweather video.
This man continues with post after post of racially charged outbursts and gets a few likes on each comment he makes.
I want to take the time out right now to go over a few things:
1. If you claim to be a Manny Pacquiao fan and you then go onto social media and just outright racially attack people you are doing your man a disservice. There are potentially thousands upon thousands of fans that have no ill will towards Pacquiao, but favor Mayweather because of his superior boxing skills and being American. You know the home town hero.
When you do this you turn those fans from Mayweather fans to actual Pacquiao haters. Hate only breeds hate contempt only breeds contempt. You may not realize this but Manny has black people under his employ. He has black sparring partners and his trainer Freddie Roach has black students in his gym.
2. You do a disservice to people entirely. I'm a Puerto Rican boxing fan, but I look white. I look really white. It's almost impossible to start up a boxing conversation with anyone because i never know what the response is going to be. I don't know if I'm going to be judged as a racist instantly or discredited in anyway.
3. It's just wrong. You diminish the accomplishments of someone solely based on the way they were born. You attack Floyd Mayweather because "He beats women." or "He is too ****y." and a lot more colorful terms. I'd like to point out that Manny Pacquiao himself was considered a womanizer and it has been said he has children out of wedlock. (I can not confirm this so I remain skeptical)
I don't know what was going on in his life i wasn't there so I reserve judgment for his family and himself, but I do know that if he wasn't just as flawed as Mayweather is in his personal life he wouldn't have come so close to loosing his wife.
4. I don't like Mayweather for who he is as a person. I like Mayweather for who he is as a boxer. He is a complete master of his craft and I'm always amazed when i watch him do what he does.
I don't see why this isn't the logic everyone applies to all athletes etc. Another one of my childhood heroes is Stephen King. I love his books and I've read them all front to back. I can't help but love his work, however I don't know him from a whole in the wall and for me to apply any attribute to him other than his work is insane.
5. Throughout the history of boxing many of the greats were womanizers and generally not such good people outside of the ring. It didn't matter back then as long as they were winning fights.
Robinson, Dempsey, Joe Louis, Camacho, Marciano, J.C. Chavez, Tyson, Sugar Ray Leonard, Duran, Ali, and too many others to list were all notorious womanizers and worse. Yet, they are remembered as some of the greatest champions and most celebrated fighters of all time. I can't remember the last time when any of these fighters were spoken of it wasn't in high regard.
6. What if the situation were reversed: What if every time you went on a youtube channel to make a comment or a sports forum you read hundreds of people bashing you because you're white? How would it feel to see someone says "You're a white piece of s*** and you should crawl back into a hole and die!" and that statement get 100+ likes?
Why do you do this to people just because their opinion differs from yours? Why is it that hate is such a logical response to you? Why is it that even when someone doesn't mention a Mayweather in a comment all they have to say is that they don't like pacman is it that you instantly throw Mayweather's name in it?
I'm a life long boxing fan and I'm ashamed to admit it anymore. I'm ashamed that the only fandom I belonged to since I could barely remember being a person has turned into such disgrace. It was once a sport that brought people together.
Puerto Ricans, Whites, and Blacks all in my house all enjoying the fight. All of them eating my lasagna. The cheers that shook the house and knocked the cable box off of the floor model tv that we used pliers to change the channel on. The loud screams, the excitement, the energy, the camaraderie, and some of the only times in my life where I can remember everyone being happy at the same time.
These memories have been sullied by the new experience I've had, not by boxing, but by it's fans. The people that are supposed to keep the sport alive are the ones that are killing it not the fighters. It doesn't matter how many 100 dollar bills Floyd burns, how many people Wilder knocks out, or the lack of a competitive heavy weight division. It's the fans that are killing boxing.
My mother cooked up tons of food and my favorite food lasagna with about 29lbs of cheese sat on the table. I remember trying to squeez past all the adults that smelled of beer and smoke to make it to that meal before all of those people ate it.
My mom's friend Carmen picked me up and sat me on her lap and fed me some while the fight was playing. This was a normal scene at many Puerto Rican house holds back in the 80's and 90's. When Mike Tyson fought one person would order the fight and charge 5 bucks a head and half the block would show up.
I remember sitting on Carmen's lap my head resting against Her chest eating lasagna and how excited she was that Mike Tyson was going to fight. I remember Carmen telling me you see papi that is a real man.
I remember Mike Tyson walking to the ring and everyone cheering and the energy the flowed through the room. I didn't know what was going on but I knew it was good. I knew what I was experiencing was great and I wanted to feel like this all the time.
I remember seeing the big guy getting leveled and everyone jumping and screaming and drinks flying around and Carmen's big boobs hitting my head and I could equate all this to Mike Tyson. I didn't know then that I was witnessing history in the making. I didn't know what a boxing match was. I just knew that lasagna was good Mike Tyson = lasagna so Mike Tyson was good. This was the start of a lifetime of cherishing boxing.
Let us flash forward to 29 years later. What is being dubbed as the fight of the century is about to go down. Floyd Mayweather is finally taking on Manny Pacquiao. Everyone I know is excited about this fight except the die hard boxing fans like myself.
Don't get me wrong it's a fight that had to happen, however I don't view Pacquiao as the fighter everyone else does. I can't name a quality fighter that he has fought and won against in the past 10 years. I know crazy right I mean Juan Manuel Marquez, Timmothy Bradley, what could I possibly be talking about?
I know how the 4 bouts with Marquez went down and I watched them time and time again. I don't see how anyone says Pacquiao won the first 2 fight, To me, to someone that has been watching boxing since he was 4 years old, I saw Marquez beat Pacquiao in those first 2 bouts loose the 3rd and we all know what happened in the 4th.
Tim Bradley didn't seem to be in it to win it against Pacquiao the second fight. I don't know what was wrong but I didn't see Tim Bradley, I saw a timid person barley invested in a fight. There could have been many factors but I'm no one to judge.
All in all what my OPINION about Pacquiao may be it's just an opinion that I am entitled to it.
o·pin·ion
/***601;***712;piny***601;n/
noun
noun: opinion; plural noun: opinions
a view or judgment formed about something, not necessarily based on fact or knowledge.
Over the past 6 or so years I've been going on boxing forums such as Bad Left Hook, Bloody Elbow, Boxing Society, Boxing Scene, and while not a forum Youtube videos from such youtubers as Sidneycello and Donte's Boxing Nation.
I've noticed a startling trend among fans of different boxers. I know maybe many people have noticed it, but I can't stand by without voicing my opinion any longer.
I see in virtually every forum that mentions Mayweather or Pacman or any youtube video that features them comments from people that range from disrespectful to outright hateful and racist.
The main agitators seem to be fans of Manny Pacquiao. I will not sit here and say that it is all of his fans or even a large percent of his fan base, however the ones that do it remain vocally strong.
Under the HBOBoxing youtube video of Manny Pacquiao's greatest hits there is a comment chain that starts with a youtuber that goes by the name of Jason Shaw resonding to Kujien about how pacman didn't really knock Algeri down 6 times that a few of them were slips.
Instantly chimes in the youtube user Carl Bryan Manuel. The first word of his first response is N**** and go look at a Mayweather video.
This man continues with post after post of racially charged outbursts and gets a few likes on each comment he makes.
I want to take the time out right now to go over a few things:
1. If you claim to be a Manny Pacquiao fan and you then go onto social media and just outright racially attack people you are doing your man a disservice. There are potentially thousands upon thousands of fans that have no ill will towards Pacquiao, but favor Mayweather because of his superior boxing skills and being American. You know the home town hero.
When you do this you turn those fans from Mayweather fans to actual Pacquiao haters. Hate only breeds hate contempt only breeds contempt. You may not realize this but Manny has black people under his employ. He has black sparring partners and his trainer Freddie Roach has black students in his gym.
2. You do a disservice to people entirely. I'm a Puerto Rican boxing fan, but I look white. I look really white. It's almost impossible to start up a boxing conversation with anyone because i never know what the response is going to be. I don't know if I'm going to be judged as a racist instantly or discredited in anyway.
3. It's just wrong. You diminish the accomplishments of someone solely based on the way they were born. You attack Floyd Mayweather because "He beats women." or "He is too ****y." and a lot more colorful terms. I'd like to point out that Manny Pacquiao himself was considered a womanizer and it has been said he has children out of wedlock. (I can not confirm this so I remain skeptical)
I don't know what was going on in his life i wasn't there so I reserve judgment for his family and himself, but I do know that if he wasn't just as flawed as Mayweather is in his personal life he wouldn't have come so close to loosing his wife.
4. I don't like Mayweather for who he is as a person. I like Mayweather for who he is as a boxer. He is a complete master of his craft and I'm always amazed when i watch him do what he does.
I don't see why this isn't the logic everyone applies to all athletes etc. Another one of my childhood heroes is Stephen King. I love his books and I've read them all front to back. I can't help but love his work, however I don't know him from a whole in the wall and for me to apply any attribute to him other than his work is insane.
5. Throughout the history of boxing many of the greats were womanizers and generally not such good people outside of the ring. It didn't matter back then as long as they were winning fights.
Robinson, Dempsey, Joe Louis, Camacho, Marciano, J.C. Chavez, Tyson, Sugar Ray Leonard, Duran, Ali, and too many others to list were all notorious womanizers and worse. Yet, they are remembered as some of the greatest champions and most celebrated fighters of all time. I can't remember the last time when any of these fighters were spoken of it wasn't in high regard.
6. What if the situation were reversed: What if every time you went on a youtube channel to make a comment or a sports forum you read hundreds of people bashing you because you're white? How would it feel to see someone says "You're a white piece of s*** and you should crawl back into a hole and die!" and that statement get 100+ likes?
Why do you do this to people just because their opinion differs from yours? Why is it that hate is such a logical response to you? Why is it that even when someone doesn't mention a Mayweather in a comment all they have to say is that they don't like pacman is it that you instantly throw Mayweather's name in it?
I'm a life long boxing fan and I'm ashamed to admit it anymore. I'm ashamed that the only fandom I belonged to since I could barely remember being a person has turned into such disgrace. It was once a sport that brought people together.
Puerto Ricans, Whites, and Blacks all in my house all enjoying the fight. All of them eating my lasagna. The cheers that shook the house and knocked the cable box off of the floor model tv that we used pliers to change the channel on. The loud screams, the excitement, the energy, the camaraderie, and some of the only times in my life where I can remember everyone being happy at the same time.
These memories have been sullied by the new experience I've had, not by boxing, but by it's fans. The people that are supposed to keep the sport alive are the ones that are killing it not the fighters. It doesn't matter how many 100 dollar bills Floyd burns, how many people Wilder knocks out, or the lack of a competitive heavy weight division. It's the fans that are killing boxing.
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