#360view: #MayPac an era-defining bout

Andy Lewis 05:57 02/05/2015
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Mail
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • WhatsApp
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Hot ticket: Friday's weigh-in.

    Boxing only has two genuine superstars and tonight they will finally share a ring. Floyd Mayweather versus Manny Pacquiao is a massive global spectacle – an authentic superfight – but in all likelihood it is the last one we will see for quite some time.

    Tonight this generation gets its ‘Super Bowl of boxing’ and it feels distinctly like the end of an era.

    Pacquiao made his pay-per-view debut in March 2005 against Erik Morales, Mayweather followed him three months later against Arturo Gatti, and the two of them have done more to carry their sport than anyone else in the past decade.

    Mayweather’s genius promotional tactics mean every time he fights it is a major event, while Pacquiao has built a worldwide fanbase through his endearing nature outside of the ring and the electricity he creates inside of it.

    They are the only two names in boxing that are 100 per cent guaranteed to be accompanied by the words ‘pay per view’ in big letters on their fight posters.

    Yet watching Mayweather drop his ‘Money’ pantomime villain act – a ghastly amplification of his already rampant narcissism – in favour of a respectful veteran routine this week only underlines how much the 38-year-old wants out. Contrast that with how he goaded and mocked Oscar De La Hoya during fight week at the same venue eight years ago.

    He plans to retire after one more bout in September. Two more wins would make him 49-0, level with Rocky Marciano, and while it must be tempting for him to aim for the half century he has sounded very much like a man ready to hang his gloves up.

    That’s been followed by talk of Pacquiao’s potential retirement, with the Filipino, 36, admitting this week that he and Mayweather “had nowhere else to go”.

    Perhaps the end of the road doesn’t arrive this weekend but for both men it is so very close, and boxing will soon be shorn of its two biggest attractions. The faces of their generation, the landscape will look very different without them. 

    Boxing will survive, it always does. A moral minefield and the red light district of sports it may be, but the global gaze focused on Las Vegas this weekend is evidence of its deep and enduring appeal.

    The good news is that while there might be an impending vacuum of star power, there’s certainly no talent drain. If you want a glimpse of the future then watch Sunday morning’s broadcast from the start and catch the brilliant Vasyl Lomachenko on the undercard.

    The Ukrainian, along with middleweight champion Gennady Golovkin and light heavyweight king Sergey Kovalev are at the forefront of an exciting crop of Eastern European fighters.

    The likes of Canelo Alvarez and Amir Khan will hope to step into the immediate May/Pac void, while light welterweight Terence Crawford is being heralded as the next big thing in the US and much is expected of Britain’s heavyweight Olympic gold medallist Anthony Joshua. None are household names, talented yes, but a long way from superstardom. 

    The truly big fights provide rare crossover moments for boxing and become part of the cultural fabric of an era, so watch this one, barring a rematch, it’s the last we’ll see for many years to come.

    Recommended