Brick City Boxing

By: Christopher Roche

The Floyd Mayweather vs. Juan Manuel Marquez bout pitted two counter-punchers matching up for a big payday, on their way to retirement. On paper, this was a boring fight, and it certainly lived up to expectations.

While both men received a nice bump in their respective 401(k)’s, it was Mayweather who would not go gently into that good night (apologies to Dylan Thomas).

Mayweather was expected to defeat Marquez, but his total dominance was breathtaking. Marquez was frustrated, cut, knocked down and out pointed at every turn. When Marquez connected against Mayweather, there was no effect.

[More:]

Mayweather was in complete command from the beginning to the end, and he did something he did not do in his last bout against Ricky Hatton, Mayweather won every single round. In fact, after the second round knockdown, it was clear that Marquez had no chance at winning. He seemingly resigned himself to merely survive, whereas Hatton went for broke and Mayweather obliged.

It would not be an overstatement to call Mayweather’s performance last night amazing. Consider the fact that Mayweather is now pushing into his mid-thirties, had been out of the ring for nearly two years, and had only fought four times in the past four years. The man who calls himself “Money” delivered a golden performance beyond most observers expectations. Mayweather took apart an opponent who was a current top-three pound for pound boxer. Mayweather arguably never defeated such a highly ranked opponent in his storied career.

Going into this fight there was a lot of talk about Mayweather’s cherry-picking Marquez. We all know that Marquez is smaller than Mayweather, but if Team Mayweather truly wanted to cherry pick, why would they choose an opponent at the top of the pound for pound rankings?

Marquez, after all, had just come up in weight to knockout Juan Diaz, who is now campaigning at 140 lbs. On top of that, Manny Pacquiao rose through the weight classes and decimated both Oscar De La Hoya and Hatton, so Marquez’s attempt to move up in weight was not unprecedented. Pacquiao crushed his larger opponents in a way that he could not do to Marquez, and the boxing public definitely did not accuse De La Hoya and Hatton of cherry picking Pacquiao because of his diminutive stature.

Mayweather is often a victim of his own success as much as he is his own worst enemy. His mastery in the ring has led boxing observers to take his dominance for granted. Outside the ring, his performances on 24/7 are difficult to stomach, and the nefarious allegations surrounding his team do not help his image. However, his output last night was nothing short of incredible. He came off the bench cold and dominated one of the hottest fighters in the sport.

I am not a Mayweather apologist, but last night was Floyd’s night, and he deserves all of the accolades that go with this comeback victory. The fact that HBO allowed Shane Mosley and Bernard Hopkins to ambush his post-fight interview was shameful, and when Mayweather tried to mention his legitimate sponsors, Max Kellerman rudely interrupted him and admonished him not to make a “commercial”. Mayweather’s mentioning of his sponsors and team is not out of bounds, and in fact, sponsors are the lifeblood of the athlete who is also a sole practioner.

Racecar drivers, for example, are walking billboards, and they begin and end every interview with sponsor plugs. MMA is another example where the fighters frequently mention their sponsorship partners. By the looks of the growth in those two sports, maybe boxing should imitate that behavior. However, HBO, which essentially runs a ninety-minute advertisement during its broadcasts, thought it appropriate to silence one of the sport’s biggest stars after a great victory. Can one imagine the same thing happening to Dale Earnhardt, Jr. in the post-race interview, after winning the Daytona 500?

Mayweather’s comeback performance was stellar, but what he does next is not set in stone. The winner of the Cotto vs. Pacquiao fight would be logical for Mayweather’s next step, and I am sure HBO would clamor to broadcast such a monumental event. I am also confident there would be plenty of “commercials” for “HBO’s upcoming events”, Tecate Beer, the MGM Grand, Southwest Airlines and Affliction clothing, just to name a few. As long as Mayweather does not mention Reebok, HBO will surely be proud to once again harvest riches from the sweat of one of boxing’s biggest stars.