The student media organization of California State University Northridge

Daily Sundial

The student media organization of California State University Northridge

Daily Sundial

The student media organization of California State University Northridge

Daily Sundial

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Stop paying for Mayweather Jr.’s fight

Undefeated boxing star Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s next opponent starts with an M, but it isn’t Manny Pacquiao, which is why you should not purchase Mayweather Jr.’s next fight.

Aside from serving two months in prison for domestic battery charges and from his flamboyant lifestyle, Mayweather Jr. is not one people typically root for. Plenty of people actually tune in to watch Mayweather Jr. in hopes of watching him lose for the first time.

Mayweather Jr. is scheduled to face Marcos Maidana, a slow-moving brawler from Argentina on May 5 in a lucrative pay-per-view match. Buyers are expected to shell out $60, or $70 if you want to watch in the comfort of high definition.

While Maidana has 31 knockouts in 35 victories and three losses, he matches up worst stylistically against Mayweather Jr. However, Mayweather Jr.‘s other possible opponent, Amir Khan,  was a young, fast-moving, glass-jawed fighter, but the hand-selection of his opponents is exactly the story of Mayweather Jr.’s career.

Time and time again Mayweather Jr. has let us down with the selection of his opponents. The trend began in 2006 when Mayweather Jr. fought Carlos Baldomir of Argentina for the lineal Welterweight championship. The fight was a typical Mayweather Jr. fight, filled with monotony that had the arena emptying at a rapid pace.

It was at this particular time that a young, relentless, pressure-fighting boxer by the name of Antonio Margarito was making headways.

Margarito was labeled the most feared man in boxing at the time, but instead of choosing to fight Margarito to gain respect from boxing pundits and fans, Mayweather Jr. fought Baldomir. He then went on to fight Oscar De La Hoya and broke into stardom. Mayweather Jr.’s decision to avoid Margarito during his rise would foreshadow his avoidance of Pacquiao.

Here is a breakdown of Mayweather Jr.’s opponents over the years:

2007: Ricky Hatton- A smaller fighter that already proved his vulnerability against bigger fighters. Mayweather won with a TKO in the tenth round.

2009: Juan Manuel Marquez –Again, another fighter too small to compete against Mayweather. Note that Mayweather Jr. did not make weight for this fight, thus did not oblige by the rules. Mayweather cruised to a unanimous decision.

2010: Shane Mosley – an old, past prime fighter. Another dull, unanimous decision.

2011: Victor Ortiz – An unproven young fighter, whom Mayweather Jr. sucker punched his way to victory, much to the ire of boxing critics and fans.

2012: Miguel Cotto – One of Mayweather Jr.’s few exciting bouts, a 12-round unanimous decision.

2013: Robert Guerrero – How the hell did he even get to fight Mayweather Jr.? A boring, one-sided mismatch.

2013: Saul “Canelo” Alvarez – A bland dismantlement of a really good younger fighter.

At an excess of $400 ($59.95 per pay-per-view), only two fights in the past six years were worth purchasing. All but two of them were boring decisions and of the fighters he did manage to stop, one was a small unproven fighter at welterweight Hatton and the other was sucker punched to defeat, Victor Ortiz.

The Alvarez victory drew the interest of boxing fans and generated a record-$150 million from 2.2 million buys, but was another over-hyped matchup that proved to be not worth the price.

In the meantime Pacquiao was moving up in weight and fighting similar foes, but at a much more impressive rate considering nearly all of his opponents at this point were considered much bigger than him.

2008: Oscar De La Hoya – stopped in the 8th.

2009: Ricky Hatton – KO 2

2009: Miguel Cotto – TKO 12

Although Pacquiao has lost high-profile matchups with welterweights Timothy Bradley Jr. and Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012, the bouts were exciting and gave viewers their money’s worth.

When the time came for Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao to fight, it never happened and most blame Mayweather Jr. for the fight never occurring. His demands and negotiation procedures were so particular, it was off-putting. Everything from the ring walk, to who was announced first, to what name would appear first on the fight promotion was demanded by Mayweather Jr.

Even when Mayweather Jr. demanded Pacquiao submit to Olympic-style drug testing for the bout, it was not enough that Pacquiao comply as the fight would never happen and probably will never happen.

Too much time has elapsed for people to care. Mayweather Jr. is 37 and approaching the end of his career. Manny Pacquiao is 35 and his most recent fight with Bradley Jr. showed he is the not the same fighter he was three years ago.

Mayweather Jr. is arguably the best fighter of this generation. He is as an elusive target as was Pernell Whitaker and James Toney in their primes. He is the master of adjusting to what an opponent does and is most skilled at counter-punching. There are small fragments of time in which he is mesmerizing to watch. He’s dominated most of his foes in the ring, but lately, it seems like his biggest struggles are outside of the ring. It is hard to wonder what his career would be like had he not hand picked his opponents.

As long as Mayweather does not fight the likes of Pacquiao, former Welterweight champion Bradley or Middleweight champion Sergio Martinez , his pay-per-views do not merit the $60 price tag unless you suffer from severe insomnia.

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