Feels different to me this time. The problem is this fight has gathered more attention than it should have. It will only re-enforce and increasingly horrible negative trend. Whereas typically boxing "torches" get passed down so-to-speak such as De La Hoya passing it on to both Pacquiao and Mayweather, there is nobody for Pacquaio and Mayweather to pass anything on to.
I've been a big boxing fan longer than most people on this board have been alive. I can tell you Sugar Ray Leonard started the downward trend in boxing, Roy Jones took it to another level, and Mayweather / Pacquaio has pretty much given it a death blow in my book.
Never in my dreams did I ever imagine not caring or bothering to watch what would be such a hugely grossing fight. But I just didn't care. I can understand why others did care, but these guys are combined older than the Geezers at Caesars fight. They avoided fighting each other earlier so that they could make money on weaker opposition without taking any risk until they're both almost 40. Really akin to the Roy Jones Jr vs. Bernard Hopkins rematch that got inked 5-8 years later than in should have. At the end of the day, this fight to me was like going to a restaurant and someone asking me to buy a kobe beef steak at full price when I knew it was no longer even close to being fresh.
Sure, selective matchmaking has always been big in the sport, but now it's just to the point where it's absurd. Worthy of ridicule. Tonnes of undefeated world champions, but too many for everyday people to keep track of, and those that do track generally have the intelligence to know they're overwhelmingly not very good.
Boxing is so blatantly corrupt now in terms of negotiation tactics and match-making there's hardly anyone in their right mind willing to give the sport a chance and as a result there's a major dearth of good young talent.
Sure, I'm just one person, and Mayweather or Pacquiao aren't going to be upset I didn't watch their "mega-fight" and the world keeps turning, but I don't think anyone can deny this fight was as big as it was because it captures the masses who really don't care about boxing - or I should say care enough only to watch a mega-hyped fight once or twice a year. But these people will hardly watch other fights.
That in a nutshell is what's causing the downward spiral. Boxing superstars know their marketability goes down A LOT with a single loss because it takes away so much hype and loses that big slice of casual fans that give those mega-big PPV numbers. So we get into all these idiotic long winded ducking discussions. That does not lead to stronger structural interest in the sport. I won't be a hypocrite and say if I was in Mayweather's or Pacquaio's shoes I wouldn't do the same things - but overall this whole ordeal has not been good for the sport.
