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I've seen/heard a lot of people say that May-Mac was a much better fight than May-Pac.
What? How?
What I saw last night is a bigger, athletically-gifted amateur with some bad boxing habits (chin up, hands down) against a one-time great boxer who had noticeably lost a step. Mayweather's punching speed wasn't quite there, and his defense, which always relied on quick reflexes, was in even worse shape. He probably got hit last night more than his several previous fights put together (I mean, clean hits, not taps on his guard) and it's not because Conor was particularly fast. His reaction just wasn't quite as quick. I'm glad this is his last fight, but I wish he had just gone out after putting on that masterful boxing clinic with Berto (well, really I wish he had fought someone other than Berto at the time, but that's a different story). The only interesting thing about last night's fight was the adjustment Mayweather made around the 4th, when he realized that while the bigger and stronger McGregor was throwing a ton of Joe Calzaghe-style punches, he wasn't throwing anything that could hurt him and started walking him down. I've never, ever seen Floyd walk anyone down before, but it was exactly the right strategy for the moment, and the fact that he came up with it was genius. That he probably came up with it during the fight itself (since I don't think he knew how light Conor's punches were going to be in advance), makes it all the more impressive.
But aside from that, what's so great about watching an amateur fight an over-the-hill old guy?
In contrast, May-Pac was a work of defensive and strategic brilliance. Manny's shoulder issues aside, Floyd did what he has done in all of his best fights -- he neutralized his opponent's offensive tools. Manny threw less because everyone throws less against a prime Floyd. He looked over the hill in that fight (but not against Vargas or Bradley afterwords), because that is what Floyd does to everyone. Remember how he made Canelo, Marquez, Cotto, look? How about Arturo Gatti (of all people) barely throwing punches way back in the Prettyboy days? It wasn't a slugfest because Floyd was in control, and lordy, what is ever better in boxing than watching someone be in pure dominating control over a top-notch opponent? The only knock on May-Pac, for me, is that Manny was not quite as top notch as he should have been, or as he would've been if they'd fought a few years earlier. But he wasn't as far off of it as Floyd was off of his last night.
The only way I can see thinking that May-Mac was a better fight is if all you care about is the number of punches, big punches, spit/snot/blood spraying stuff, etc. But isn't there a reason we don't pay $100 to see two bums slug it out behind the bar? Yeah, there'd be a lot of blood, but there's no sense of skill, no art to the damn thing.
If we want boxing to survive and thrive, we need to get the public to appreciate boxing for the skill involved, not for the amount of contact made. Otherwise, MMA really will always provide a bloodier and "better" spectacle than boxing ever could.
What? How?
What I saw last night is a bigger, athletically-gifted amateur with some bad boxing habits (chin up, hands down) against a one-time great boxer who had noticeably lost a step. Mayweather's punching speed wasn't quite there, and his defense, which always relied on quick reflexes, was in even worse shape. He probably got hit last night more than his several previous fights put together (I mean, clean hits, not taps on his guard) and it's not because Conor was particularly fast. His reaction just wasn't quite as quick. I'm glad this is his last fight, but I wish he had just gone out after putting on that masterful boxing clinic with Berto (well, really I wish he had fought someone other than Berto at the time, but that's a different story). The only interesting thing about last night's fight was the adjustment Mayweather made around the 4th, when he realized that while the bigger and stronger McGregor was throwing a ton of Joe Calzaghe-style punches, he wasn't throwing anything that could hurt him and started walking him down. I've never, ever seen Floyd walk anyone down before, but it was exactly the right strategy for the moment, and the fact that he came up with it was genius. That he probably came up with it during the fight itself (since I don't think he knew how light Conor's punches were going to be in advance), makes it all the more impressive.
But aside from that, what's so great about watching an amateur fight an over-the-hill old guy?
In contrast, May-Pac was a work of defensive and strategic brilliance. Manny's shoulder issues aside, Floyd did what he has done in all of his best fights -- he neutralized his opponent's offensive tools. Manny threw less because everyone throws less against a prime Floyd. He looked over the hill in that fight (but not against Vargas or Bradley afterwords), because that is what Floyd does to everyone. Remember how he made Canelo, Marquez, Cotto, look? How about Arturo Gatti (of all people) barely throwing punches way back in the Prettyboy days? It wasn't a slugfest because Floyd was in control, and lordy, what is ever better in boxing than watching someone be in pure dominating control over a top-notch opponent? The only knock on May-Pac, for me, is that Manny was not quite as top notch as he should have been, or as he would've been if they'd fought a few years earlier. But he wasn't as far off of it as Floyd was off of his last night.
The only way I can see thinking that May-Mac was a better fight is if all you care about is the number of punches, big punches, spit/snot/blood spraying stuff, etc. But isn't there a reason we don't pay $100 to see two bums slug it out behind the bar? Yeah, there'd be a lot of blood, but there's no sense of skill, no art to the damn thing.
If we want boxing to survive and thrive, we need to get the public to appreciate boxing for the skill involved, not for the amount of contact made. Otherwise, MMA really will always provide a bloodier and "better" spectacle than boxing ever could.
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