Finally Fight Night

 

After six years of waiting, it's finally here.  The "Fight of the Century."  Mayweather vs. Pacquiao.  If it had happened back in 2009-10 when they were both at the height of their powers, it really would've been something special, but I'm not going to nitpick about something so many people have wanted for so long.  And it's here at long last, which is all that really matters.

Boxing needed this.  Boxing has needed this for a while.  The sport hasn't been talked about this in a long time.  Boxing has been flirting with irrelevance for the last couple years.  The fact that the Klitschko brothers refuse to fight each other and there isn't a heavyweight good enough to take the belt away from one of them is probably the main reason for that.  But Mayweather and Pacquiao are the sport's two biggest draws.  And they're in the same weight class.  Finally getting them in the ring together is what the sport, and its fans, have been clamoring for.

I'm not saying boxing is on its way back to what it once was.  I don't think it'll ever be that again.  But for one night at least, it's what everybody's talking about.  People are basing their Saturday night plans around where and how they're going to watch a boxing match.

For the past couple months, they've been building a Buffalo Wild Wings about a block away from my apartment.  Every time I walked by it, I hoped it would be finished in time.  Because that's where I wanted to watch this fight.  Buffalo Wild Wings opened on Monday.  They've got banners everywhere advertising that they've bought the fight and encouraging people to come watch it there.  Guess where I'm going for the first time on Saturday night?

The pay-per-view price is $89.95.  That's the most I've ever seen for a fight.  I usually see these prices and think people would be crazy to pay it.  For this fight, it seems like a bargain.  (Although, one of the reasons I wanted Buffalo Wild Wings to be open was so that I could save $90 by not watching it at home.)  Plenty of people are going to pay $90 a pop, and they're expecting to easily break the record of $150 million in pay-per-view buys set for Mayweather's fight against Saul Alvarez in 2013.

There are a number of reasons why it took six long years for a Mayweather-Pacquiao bout to come to fruition.  Some are more legitimate than others, but I think they've been avoiding each other.  Or, more specifically, Mayweather has been avoiding Pacquiao.  Throughout all the negotiations from 2009 until now, it's always seemed like the Pacquiao camp has been more willing to put up the gloves and do this than the Mayweather camp.  So why did it finally happen?  Because Mayweather, who I think was giving in to public pressure a little bit, is the one who initiated the talks.

As much as I don't like it, I can kind of see why Mayweather was coming up with every reason he could think of to NOT fight Pacquiao.  While they were in their primes, Pacquiao was the better fighter.  But the one thing Mayweather always had over him was the thing he still does.  That undefeated record.  Of course, that undefeated record comes with somewhat of an asterisk, since a lot of Mayweather's fights have been against lesser opponents, but undefeated is undefeated.  Had they fought in 2010 or 2011, that 0 probably would've become a 1 at the hands of Manny Pacquiao.

Pacqiuao has long since moved on to other interests.  Boxing is just one of the things he does.  He's a Congressman in the Philippines and has dabbled in singing, acting and a bunch of other stuff (evidently he coaches a basketball team, too).  He's the biggest Filipino celebrity on the planet, and the fight will probably be the most-watched TV program in the history of the Philippines.

Floyd Mayweather, on the other hand, is a boxer first and foremost.  Boxing has made him very rich, and it's his only career.  He's past his prime, but he's still incredibly formidable at the only profession he's ever known.  There's no question that at this point in their respective careers, Mayweather is the better fighter.  That's what's going to make him the heavy favorite in this matchup.

As for the fight itself, I'll be rooting for Pacquiao, but I do think Mayweather is going to win.  It's hard to predict how this is gonna go, though.  Many people think that Pacquiao's best chance is to get an early knockout.  The longer it goes, they reason, the better it'll be for Mayweather, who's the more fit of the two.  But I actually think the opposite might be true.  Mayweather's got more power.  He may go for a knockout early on and tire himself out, which would allow Pacquiao to take advantage in the later rounds.

It could go the distance or be a first-round knockout.  Mayweather could win or Pacquiao could win.  None of that matters.  Because the real winner is boxing.  And the fans who've waited way too long for this and are finally being rewarded with the "Fight of the Century."