Is Mayweather a bad poster boy for the sport?
Posted: 03 May 2015, 19:00
Lots of folk appear to feel short changed by last night's PPV bout.
Imagine if you'd been paying big US bucks for a run of Money fights. Would you feel underwhelmed and ripped off? He delivers controversy in abundance, but when does he provide genuine excitement in the ring? The last truly dominant performance that in anyway justified all the really graceless TBE waffle (yep, proclaiming to be THE BEST EVER, step aside Armstrong/Leonard/Robinson/Moore/Duran/Ali/Pep/Louis/Greb/Hagler et al) was against Corrales. In 2001. Yep, 14 years ago. Sure he has longevity. But it's been a pantheon of pitter-patter matador hugfests since. The Hatton TKO in 2007 was his last inside the distance victory besides his hugely dubious Ortiz stoppage. His last 6 fights amount to 72 rounds. How many of those rounds were out-of-the-seat exciting? Shouldn't we expect more water cooler moments from the highest paid sportsman on the planet?
Then take into account his history of unrepentant (and heinously brushed under the carpet) domestic abuse, his cynical matchmaking, his consistently vulgar and frankly unconscionable consumerism and his evident lack of personal charm.
What's left to nail your mast to?
Is he good for the sport? Will you miss him when he retires?
Imagine if you'd been paying big US bucks for a run of Money fights. Would you feel underwhelmed and ripped off? He delivers controversy in abundance, but when does he provide genuine excitement in the ring? The last truly dominant performance that in anyway justified all the really graceless TBE waffle (yep, proclaiming to be THE BEST EVER, step aside Armstrong/Leonard/Robinson/Moore/Duran/Ali/Pep/Louis/Greb/Hagler et al) was against Corrales. In 2001. Yep, 14 years ago. Sure he has longevity. But it's been a pantheon of pitter-patter matador hugfests since. The Hatton TKO in 2007 was his last inside the distance victory besides his hugely dubious Ortiz stoppage. His last 6 fights amount to 72 rounds. How many of those rounds were out-of-the-seat exciting? Shouldn't we expect more water cooler moments from the highest paid sportsman on the planet?
Then take into account his history of unrepentant (and heinously brushed under the carpet) domestic abuse, his cynical matchmaking, his consistently vulgar and frankly unconscionable consumerism and his evident lack of personal charm.
What's left to nail your mast to?
Is he good for the sport? Will you miss him when he retires?