3 Reasons The Mayweather-Pacquiao Fight Was Great

We waited more than 5 years for a fight that many said would not happen. On Saturday night, the impossible became reality as Floyd Mayweather beat Manny Pacquiao by unanimous decision. We've had several days to digest and complain about what we saw. I've seen it all from "waste of money" to "bust" to "great fight"... but the bottom line is this...the "Bad Guy" won...and I was impressed.

In the hype leading up to "Mayweather-Pacquiao" like many of the great "super-fights" I've witnessed over my lifetime, the promotion forced you to take sides based on "personal preferences". Everyday on social media, everyone explained why they choose their man and most of them had ZERO to do with the sport or the action in the ring but the "character" of the fighter. Manny was the "God-Fearing Underdog", Floyd "The Cocky Greedy and Scared Champion". I grew up in the 80's during the era of the "super-fight" so I've seen my fair share of great boxing matches from Hagler-Hearns, Leonard-Duran, Tyson and all his knockouts. But one overwhelming opinion that I see is that "fans" feel cheated and called this fight "boring". To the contrary, here are my reasons:

1. This Is Boxing, The Point of the Game is HIT and NOT GET HIT.

In this world of MMA, and "WorldStar fight videos" we've grown accustomed to witnessing big knockouts and non-stop action. Fans of boxing know and understand that the big knockout isn't going to happen in every fight but the actual skill that's involved is something to enjoy. Floyd Mayweather is the MASTER of not getting hit, and he showcased that skill against Pacquiao. While Pacquiao tried his best to corner Mayweather, which is what one should do in such instances, he couldn't keep him contained to do any damage, which leads to my next reason....

2. Pacquiao Fans: Blame Freddy Roach 

The biggest complaint I heard from Pacquiao fans was that Floyd spent much of the match "running" from Manny. NEWSFLASH: He's supposed to! When you respect your opponents power, you aren't just going to stand there and go toe to toe with them. You do what you can to avoid catching one of those punches. Again, this is boxing folks, when you don't learn to make adjustments in the middle of the fight or if you're not being told that you are losing the fight the blame falls squarely on the trainer. Blame Freddy Roach.

3. Not Paying $99.00 For This Fight.

Now don't get me wrong, at the last minute, I was prepared to pull the trigger and pay the PPV rate which, as "SNL" described as "the price of one month's food" to see this fight. But instead I went to the movies and saw the "Avengers" (Check out my review below) then I was greeted by calls and invites by friends to witness the fight. But I got to see it anyway and enjoyed all 12 rounds of this event because I understand the "sweet science" and appreciate both of these guys athleticism. As for the "hype", it lived up to it in my opinion as a fan of the actual SPORT of boxing and not the "personal character" of the participants. While both men have tremendous character flaws, it doesn't mean we can't enjoy an evening of sporting fun, or have we learned nothing from watching football every Sunday?