What’s next for boxing
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With characteristic modesty, Floyd Mayweather proclaimed his performance against Oscar De La Hoya to be “a masterpiece of boxing.” It may have been that. As I wasn’t in attendance, I’ll defer to the ringside media who seem to agree that the fight lived up to its hype.
But a demonstration of technical prowess does not necessarily make for good television — certainly not at $54.95. As it happened, I scored the fight like judge Tom Kaczmarek — seven rounds to five for De La Hoya. But that’s not why I feel cheated. Rather, my regret is only that Mayweather’s masterpiece failed to entertain. It was a bore.
“If Oscar hadn’t pressed the action, there wouldn’t have even been a fight,” says Bas Rutten, a former Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight titleholder who, like me, counts himself a big boxing fan.
In many ways, the boxing business deemed Rutten and his ilk to be the real opponent here. This was supposed to be the fight to finally beat back the mixed martial arts menace. In fact, it made a persuasive case (much to my dismay) for boxing’s obsolescence.
I’m 44; Bas is 42. If old guys like us thought the fight was lacking, then what of that most prized demographic, the 18 to 34-year-old male? What of a generation raised on a steady diet of Wrestlemania, Xbox, SportsCenter, Kung Fu flicks, graphic novels and porn?
If nothing else, these laddies demand visual gratification. These are the guys who made 300 a huge hit. They could not have been much impressed with Mayweather’s tactical triumph. They don’t like endings subject to interpretation. They want their dramas resolved. They want a little blood and guts. At $54.95, that shouldn’t be too much to ask.
More than a decade has passed since Senator John McCain famously derided the UFC as “human cockfighting.” Now the boxing business seeks to portray mixed martial arts fighters as crude, unskilled sadists. It’s a curious position for an industry that had been so eager to pimp out Mike Tyson. Sure, there’s a difference between the boxer who slips and sticks and the MMA guy straddling an opponent while pummeling him into submission. The level of violence has been amped up.
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