Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao 2015: Latest News, Odds
May 3, 2015 17:43:54 GMT -5
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Post by JB1089 on May 3, 2015 17:43:54 GMT -5
To say that Mayweather killed boxing is ridiculous. Boxing has been dead for a while now, and it was dying long before that.
Personally, I've never found Mayweather fights to be boring. I get a kick out of seeing people swing and miss. I've also always been intrigued by the dichotomy between the idiot that he appears to be outside the ring and the savant that I see inside it. He DOMINATES the 2nd half of his fights. A lot of Pacquiao fans were frustrated by his relative inactivity, not acknowledging the fact that it was a direct result of getting caught with so many hooks and straight rights when he tried to come in. Mayweather doesn't have classic, knock you on your ass power, but he hits hard enough to make everyone he's ever fought become tentative in the later rounds.
After the fight, I drew a parallel between 3 prominent sports figures: Boxer, Floyd Mayweather; soccer manager, Jose Mourinho; and Formula 1 drive, Alain Prost. All 3 have an approach to their sport that is built on minimizing risk. They have all been accused of being "boring" and of harming their respective sports, despite their historic successes. All of them also have more entertaining rivals that enjoy much greater popularity among fans of the sport. Perhaps not coincidentally, I happen to like all 3 of them.
Mayweather's strategy is to accumulate 10-9 rounds. You can get a 10-8 by scoring a knockdown, but is the extra point really worth the added risk that comes with going for bigger shots? If you really think about it, it's not. The only time I've seen Mayweather let loose in the past 15 years are when he feels completely unthreatened by his opponent, like in the Gatti fight. Otherwise, he's going to sit back in his shell and counter with hooks and straight rights when the other guy tries to come in. When they are able to get inside, he's one of the best clinchers I've ever seen. And while you may not like it, clinching is a part of boxing. He prefers to fight in the middle of the ring, but he's right at home on the ropes or even in the corner. He's supremely confident in his ability to defend, even in those vulnerable positions. He'll let his opponent swing away, not do any damage (even as the crowd goes wild), and then land one clean shot and move out of trouble. All he's really trying to do is land anywhere from 5-10 clean shots (based on what the other guy has been able to accomplish) and win the round. In the late rounds when he's built up a commanding lead on the cards, he's not going for the knockout because "a win is a win" and you don't get bonus points for style. He's not about to get caught with a punch because he was being a glory chasing idiot. With all of his athletic gifts and the conservative approach he's taken to boxing, I really don't see how he can be beaten. That was the conclusion I came to in the run up to the DLH fight, when I went back and watched every Mayweather fight I could find. I finished that review and told my dad "I don't know why anyone thinks DLH has a chance in this fight." The only bad fight I saw him have was the first fight against Castillo, when after controlling the early rounds a younger Mayweather was drawn into trying to trade shots with a bigger, stronger, more experienced fighter. He got away with that one, but it was also the turning point in his career, he never made that mistake again.
If you have a Twitter, do a search with the terms "Mayweather" and "Mourinho" or "Mayweather" and "Chelsea." You will see the thousands of British people who immediately saw the similarities between the boxer and the soccer coach. Jose Mourinho is routinely criticized for playing "anti-football." His approach is that if the other team doesn't score, they can't win. He will cede possession of the ball to the other team, drop everyone back into defense, and stay there for the entire game, making little to no effort to score. In back to back weeks, his Chelsea squad played Manchester United and Arsenal (the 3rd and 4th place teams). Chelsea beat ManU 1-0 and played Arsenal to a 0-0 draw. The two teams combined for 3 shots on goal across the 2 games, both of which were derided by soccer fans as being unwatchable. If soccer fans thought that is was unwatchable, just imagine how bad it must have been. 1 shot on goal for every hour of match time. During the Arsenal match, the crowd changted "Boring Boring Chelsea." After the match, Mourinho responded "You know what I think is boring? No league title in 10 years." Burn.
Alain Prost was an F1 driver in the 80s and 90s famous for "Winning while driving as slowly as possible." If you're in first, there's no reason to keep driving as fast as possible, all you accomplish by doing so is to increase the chances that you make a mistake or that the car has a mechanical failure. If you're in 3rd, but you only need to finish is 3rd to win the championship, then it's dumb to attempt a risky pass to improve your position. Essentially, only do as much as is necessary to win...and no more. This stood is stark contrast to his rival, Ayrton Senna, the (arguably) greatest and (unarguably) most beloved F1 driver off all time. Senna was balls to the wall all the time. He racked up wins and pole positions at an unprecedented rate. He also made some of the most fantastic (and risky) overtakes that people had ever seen. He was the greatest wet weather driver of all time because of his willingness to push it in dangerous conditions, when others would not. Though they both won 1 out of 4 races over their careers, Senna was, and still is, beloved while Prost is not.
Personally, I've never found Mayweather fights to be boring. I get a kick out of seeing people swing and miss. I've also always been intrigued by the dichotomy between the idiot that he appears to be outside the ring and the savant that I see inside it. He DOMINATES the 2nd half of his fights. A lot of Pacquiao fans were frustrated by his relative inactivity, not acknowledging the fact that it was a direct result of getting caught with so many hooks and straight rights when he tried to come in. Mayweather doesn't have classic, knock you on your ass power, but he hits hard enough to make everyone he's ever fought become tentative in the later rounds.
After the fight, I drew a parallel between 3 prominent sports figures: Boxer, Floyd Mayweather; soccer manager, Jose Mourinho; and Formula 1 drive, Alain Prost. All 3 have an approach to their sport that is built on minimizing risk. They have all been accused of being "boring" and of harming their respective sports, despite their historic successes. All of them also have more entertaining rivals that enjoy much greater popularity among fans of the sport. Perhaps not coincidentally, I happen to like all 3 of them.
Mayweather's strategy is to accumulate 10-9 rounds. You can get a 10-8 by scoring a knockdown, but is the extra point really worth the added risk that comes with going for bigger shots? If you really think about it, it's not. The only time I've seen Mayweather let loose in the past 15 years are when he feels completely unthreatened by his opponent, like in the Gatti fight. Otherwise, he's going to sit back in his shell and counter with hooks and straight rights when the other guy tries to come in. When they are able to get inside, he's one of the best clinchers I've ever seen. And while you may not like it, clinching is a part of boxing. He prefers to fight in the middle of the ring, but he's right at home on the ropes or even in the corner. He's supremely confident in his ability to defend, even in those vulnerable positions. He'll let his opponent swing away, not do any damage (even as the crowd goes wild), and then land one clean shot and move out of trouble. All he's really trying to do is land anywhere from 5-10 clean shots (based on what the other guy has been able to accomplish) and win the round. In the late rounds when he's built up a commanding lead on the cards, he's not going for the knockout because "a win is a win" and you don't get bonus points for style. He's not about to get caught with a punch because he was being a glory chasing idiot. With all of his athletic gifts and the conservative approach he's taken to boxing, I really don't see how he can be beaten. That was the conclusion I came to in the run up to the DLH fight, when I went back and watched every Mayweather fight I could find. I finished that review and told my dad "I don't know why anyone thinks DLH has a chance in this fight." The only bad fight I saw him have was the first fight against Castillo, when after controlling the early rounds a younger Mayweather was drawn into trying to trade shots with a bigger, stronger, more experienced fighter. He got away with that one, but it was also the turning point in his career, he never made that mistake again.
If you have a Twitter, do a search with the terms "Mayweather" and "Mourinho" or "Mayweather" and "Chelsea." You will see the thousands of British people who immediately saw the similarities between the boxer and the soccer coach. Jose Mourinho is routinely criticized for playing "anti-football." His approach is that if the other team doesn't score, they can't win. He will cede possession of the ball to the other team, drop everyone back into defense, and stay there for the entire game, making little to no effort to score. In back to back weeks, his Chelsea squad played Manchester United and Arsenal (the 3rd and 4th place teams). Chelsea beat ManU 1-0 and played Arsenal to a 0-0 draw. The two teams combined for 3 shots on goal across the 2 games, both of which were derided by soccer fans as being unwatchable. If soccer fans thought that is was unwatchable, just imagine how bad it must have been. 1 shot on goal for every hour of match time. During the Arsenal match, the crowd changted "Boring Boring Chelsea." After the match, Mourinho responded "You know what I think is boring? No league title in 10 years." Burn.
Alain Prost was an F1 driver in the 80s and 90s famous for "Winning while driving as slowly as possible." If you're in first, there's no reason to keep driving as fast as possible, all you accomplish by doing so is to increase the chances that you make a mistake or that the car has a mechanical failure. If you're in 3rd, but you only need to finish is 3rd to win the championship, then it's dumb to attempt a risky pass to improve your position. Essentially, only do as much as is necessary to win...and no more. This stood is stark contrast to his rival, Ayrton Senna, the (arguably) greatest and (unarguably) most beloved F1 driver off all time. Senna was balls to the wall all the time. He racked up wins and pole positions at an unprecedented rate. He also made some of the most fantastic (and risky) overtakes that people had ever seen. He was the greatest wet weather driver of all time because of his willingness to push it in dangerous conditions, when others would not. Though they both won 1 out of 4 races over their careers, Senna was, and still is, beloved while Prost is not.