Every serious boxing fan going to Las Vegas for May 5, raise your hand. Oh. Fewer than expected. And those of you planning to watch “The World Awaits” on pay-per-view? OK. That’s better. Anybody going to be in San Antonio this Saturday?
Time to address that.
According to mainstream media reports – of which a tsunami is building – Oscar de la Hoya versus Floyd Mayweather, on Cinco de Mayo, will feature the world’s most popular fighter, Oscar, against the world’s greatest pound-for-pound fighter, Floyd. Since much opinion writing is but an Easter-egg hunt through press releases for things to copy and paste, this wisdom, about to go from common to universal, has gone unchecked.
According to pay-per-view revenues, Oscar de la Hoya is indeed the world’s most popular fighter. But Oscar is also from the wealthiest country in the world. And although $54 is unlikely to bankrupt any American, Oscar will be fortunate if 0.67% of his countrymen purchase “The World Awaits” on pay-per-view.
Chances are, when Manny Pacquiao fights Jorge Solis at the Alamodome this Saturday, more than half of one percent of the Philippines will show interest. Manny Pacquiao is his country’s most popular athlete by a wide margin. Oscar de la Hoya may not even be in his country’s Top 20.
Then there’s the world’s greatest pound-for-pound fighter, Floyd Mayweather. In hypothetical fights, Floyd has beaten everyone from Antonio Margarito to Sugar Ray Robinson. Where sportswriters’ imaginations are concerned, Floyd has cleaned out every division in boxing, thrice.
But “Pretty Boy Floyd’s” actual record in actual fights, while perfect, is a bit less impressive. Since stopping Sharmba Mitchell 16 months ago, Floyd has decisioned Zab Judah and Carlos Baldomir – imperiling neither. In the last 14 months, meanwhile, Manny Pacquiao has knocked-out Oscar Larios and Erik Morales twice.
That’s the main reason Manny Pacquiao belongs atop every pound-for-pound list.
Now, ask any 10 boxing aficionados who wins a hypothetical fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, and you’ll get 10 votes for Floyd Mayweather. But for a little perspective, check those same experts’ predictions before Manny Pacquiao knocked-out Marco Antonio Barrera in 2003. You’ll undoubtedly find 10 votes for Barrera.
It’s not that experts often falter, but that what a prizefighter actually does in the ring changes what he’s capable of doing in the future. The consensus opinion after Pacquiao beat Barrera was that Barrera, at age 29, was past his prime and unable to outbox Manny Pacquiao as expected. Right now, Floyd Mayweather is 30 years old and considered at the peak of his career. How could Barrera be ruined at 29 while Mayweather is best at 30?
Because actual fights matter.
If he defeats Oscar de la Hoya at 154 pounds next month, will Floyd Mayweather deserve to be a hypothetical favorite over welterweights Kermit Cintron, Paul Williams, Miguel Cotto, Antonio Margarito and Shane Mosley? Absolutely. But this is not the way to rate a fighter.
Here’s a better question to ask. Would Floyd Mayweather still be favored against Shane Mosley after Mayweather actually fought Cintron, Williams, Cotto and Margarito? Maybe, maybe not. Trouble is, the spectacle of Floyd Mayweather cleaning out the welterweight division, in which he is currently ranked first, can best be named “The World Awaits – Forever.”
Last fall, while Floyd Mayweather was putting on a performance against Carlos Baldomir that got Mayweather showered with boos, Manny Pacquiao was swapping blows with Erik Morales in the best three-round championship fight since Hagler stopped Hearns. To leave Floyd Mayweather atop a list of best fighters after that, or reinstall him so as to help the world await Mayweather’s next event, cheapens Manny Pacquiao’s accomplishment.
Then after his last fight, when Floyd Mayweather couldn’t argue his way around fans’ loud disapproval, he became hysterical and threatened to retire. It was something like his rise to the title of World’s Greatest Pound-for-Pound Fighter: Marco Antonio Barrera lost, Bernard Hopkins lost, and Floyd Mayweather was just louder than everyone else.
Meanwhile, two of boxing’s biggest promoters, Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions, began suing and countersuing one another for Manny Pacquiao’s services.
Once hypothetical titles are put away, and the average boxing fan is asked who entertains him better – “Pretty Boy Floyd” or “Pacman” – it’s an easy choice. Anyone selecting Floyd Mayweather does so only in the hopes of ascending to the boxing-purist corner of heaven.
That brings us to this Saturday night at the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas. Manny Pacquiao will fight undefeated Mexican super-featherweight Jorge Solis. It will be an entertaining scrap. How can we be sure? Because “Pacman,” with his remarkable offensive arsenal which acts as his defense, always makes great fights.
Also on the card will be Jorge “El Travieso” Arce in a genuine test against Mexican super-flyweight Cristian Mijares. Between “Pacman” and “El Travieso” a prizefighting venue couldn’t house two pugilists who are happier in their craft. Throw in Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. and former light-flyweight champ Brian Viloria, and you’ve got a much better card, top to bottom, than what “The World Awaits.”
But don’t let that discourage you from partaking of Oscar and Floyd in May. Everyone loves the pomp and ceremony of prizefighting, and May 5 will have plenty.
Instead, consider this budgetary advice from one boxing fan to another.
Rather than blow your life’s savings on a trip to Las Vegas next month, buy a plane ticket to San Antonio for this weekend. You’re going to miss out on the always unsavory Vegas-superfight element as well as the spectacle of tennis and soccer writers trying to channel Hemingway into their second fight reports of the millennium. But hey, there will be great prizefighting, and you can always watch “The World Awaits” at a friend’s house.
See you in San Antonio.