UNLIKE THE first Fight of the Century, the 1971 match between undefeated heavyweight champions Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier at the Madison Square Garden, the Fight of the Century held at the MGM Grand Sunday will not qualify as a battle for the ages. It did not, in a word, live up to the hype. There is a lesson in that—but perhaps not what many disappointed fans might think.
The most lucrative fight in history, with A-list celebrities in attendance and record pay-per-view numbers, the match-up between the two boxers generally acknowledged to be the best of their generation was almost six years in the making; without exaggeration, anyone can say that the bout was the most anticipated boxing match in decades. That it was a disappointment is not so much because Manny Pacquiao lost (although the loss was painful to millions of Filipino fans watching the fight or listening to it on radio or following it on digital media), as because the defensive style of Floyd Mayweather Jr. carried the day.
Mayweather’s defensive genius is unquestionably of a superior order; it does not make for exciting fights, indeed it is an approach that deliberately takes the excitement out of a fight by methodically separating the opponent from his strengths, but it is very effective.
Mayweather’s 48-0 record is testament to that effectiveness; at the same time, the fact that few if any of Mayweather’s 48 professional fights qualify for any list of the most memorable fights of all time is proof that his style of fighting is not as exciting to watch as Pacquiao’s. (To be sure, boxing aficionados appreciate his technical skill, and yesterday’s fight was yet another display of his gifts.)
In other words, the fight was a disappointment for many because, as the old boxing axiom goes, styles make fights. And except perhaps for a few of the middle rounds, it was Mayweather’s style that carried, that defined, the fight. That style is designed to frustrate the opponent, and by the last two rounds Pacquiao was visibly frustrated. Mayweather kept dancing away; there were a few times when he looked hurt by some of Pacquiao’s combinations, but he always managed to spirit himself out of danger. The memes that flooded social media immediately after the fight took direct aim at what many Filipino boxing fans thought were signs of Mayweather’s refusal to engage, or even plain cowardice: the constant clinching (variations on hugging swept the news feeds), the running away (pro-Pacquiao celebrities popularized a “Dancing with the Stars” meme), the lack of a vigorous exchange. But it is precisely these elements that make up Mayweather’s style, and that have allowed him to retain a spotless record and in the process become the richest athlete in history.
It is not true, therefore, that the fight did not live up to the hype because the fighters were past their prime; Pacquiao could still pack a punch, as the fourth round showed, and Mayweather was still as wily in the ring as ever.
It is also not true that Sunday’s fight was a Mayweather boxing clinic, as a CNN analyst said rashly. Mayweather’s complete mastery of Juan Manuel Marquez in 2009 was a clinic; Pacquiao’s old nemesis did not even win a single round against Mayweather. In contrast, while the fight in Las Vegas was a showcase for Mayweather’s craft, it also showed his limitations; the more aggressive Pacquiao was able to win at least four rounds, maybe even five. (The judge Dave Moretti scored it a ridiculous 118-110, giving Pacquiao only two rounds.)
Lastly, it is also not true, as some of Pacquiao’s own fans have said, that Pacquiao and his corner did not have a game plan against Mayweather. Of course they did; but it is a measure of Mayweather’s boxing skill that Team Pacquiao could not get its game plan going. That, in fact, is the true lesson from yesterday’s fight. The fighter who can impose his game plan on the opponent usually wins the fight.
Both fighters gave their all, but it was Mayweather’s best that prevailed.