It’s finally (almost) here.
This clown-show, crude circus centered around two megastars
that’s been touring the country for the last three months comes to its final stop
and derails itself on the Las Vegas Strip tonight. Months before we knew the
date we only had the idea of what this could be. It’s the culmination of two
egos that are as large as the check each will be receiving whenever the final
bell tolls. Its black vs white, boxing vs MMA, one bad guy vs another bad guy.
There’s no protagonist here and that’s okay. Both Floyd Mayweather and Conor McGregor have chosen to fight each other tonight for our entertainment, to provide us with a fun and if you're a mark, expensive Saturday night. On its bare hind, it’s a super fight in Vegas on a in preseason football purgatory that is the month of August. It’s an
easy sell, but how did we get here?
Very simply put, this seems
like the evolution of the UFC of sorts into the new WWE (or WWF reprise). A world where combat stars
crossover because there's big money to be made and stars to be re-birthed as megastars. These two sports have been joined at the hip for a long time, even if there fans cant stand each other. The nucleus of MMA is the evolution of the sweet science. Boxing at its corse is a restrictive discipline. Some of sports greatest heroes were birthed
in the boxing ring. Ali, Foreman, Sugar Ray. Legends of their sport, ingrained as immortals in the sports world. But what if the athletes that
graced the squared circle were liberated to use all four limbs as weapons? Jon Jones, Anderson
Silva, Ronda Rousey, George St. Pierre are that answer. The addition of submissions, grappling, and kicks created an entirely new blood-sport ripe with violence that the world has thoroughly embraced.
Floyd Mayweather had retired. Left the sport of boxing before Father Time could ever call his number. 49 wins; undefeated, never lost! The word "retired" in modern sports feels to be mean more of an extended break than clocking out permanently. For Floyd, there's always the segment of the viewing audience that will sign up rooting for him to finally lose, finally be taught a lesson. In turn, there's always a draw and large amounts of money for him to garner at least until that happens. Plus, who the hell stops at 49? 50-0 looks so much better and
sounds so much nicer.
Then there’s Conor McGregor who I’m convinced is a part of
this fight tonight solely for his gift of gab. Dwyane Johnson level charisma
matched with dominance that at times seems too easy. Make no mistake he’s
built for this. All of it. His entire persona was created for
this moment. He looks the part and accompanies the audaciousness to match. He talks and walks like someone who is completely aware of the moment. When the world is watching he comes alive and the roast session is always ready. He masterfully conducts press conferences like the sports equivalent
of Gustav Mahler. He talked his way into his fight and the more I listen to
him, the more I admittedly, foolishly think he has a chance.
...So does he?
A chance?
HELL. NO.
I mean, he shouldn't. What he should have is a zero percentage chance to beat possibly the greatest boxer for his size that's ever existed. Vegas opened up at +1125 for a unanimous decision victory in favor of the Irishmen and while you potentially had a great payday, you never actually felt good about it. You had the equivalent of a lotto ticket. McGregor may have trained as a boxer previously. He may
also be a serviceable boxer despite becoming a meme in training. What's clear however is that he isn't a boxer. He’s simply not bout this life
in the way Mayweather has been for over three decades. You would never think an Olympic
boxer would lose to any MMA athlete in a boxing match just as Lionel Messi
could never crossover Kawhi Leonard. Mayweather's genius is often slept on, unappreciated to the masses - defense in sports much the same. Rules are customized to offense and to consumers who demand points being scored over defensive battles. Same in boxing, you are rewarded points for scoring strikes, not for making your opponent miss. Mayweather's expertise in a boxing ring reads as a riddle; how do you stand in front of someone trained to hit you, paid to hit you, makes their livelihood off hitting you, and not get hit? The answer is Floyd Mayweather.
Tonight is just about the enjoyment of playing in the mud. Pundits
abound will scream at you that watching or paying for this fight is
somehow legitimizing the actions of both participants. That’s obviously stupid. Passing on this event doesn't come any closer to healing the racial divide that this country has tailored since its creation. You're not condoning the abusive actions and constant showcases of misogyny of Floyd Mayweather by purchasing this insanely priced charade. It is possible to part the art from the artist though you may at times feel dirty about it. Sports are entertainment, not a
place to justify your morals. It’s not a place that is rid of bad people just
because they’re insanely athletic. Just because you shop at Wal-Mart or eat at Chick-fil-a doesn't mean you cosign their practices or homophobia. You just simply don't mind long lines or you love a (really) good chicken sandwich. Tonight, you just want to see two people that talk a lot of shit fight with the guarantee that one them being humbled if for only a moment.
Every time I discussed this fight with anyone, they're
all-too quick to point out how much they hate Floyd Mayweather. Couldn’t stand
him, wanted him to be beat up and knocked out. Yet, curiously but not surprisingly,
not a single one of those same people ever brought up Floyd’s propensity to beating
up the women. Floyd will smoke out the racists like discussions on Kanye West, Colin Kaepernick. He traffics in race just as boxing has perfected and gets you
to pay to watch his fights because you hate his black-ass and want so badly to
see him get laid out. He switched up his persona to floss his wealth just when you lost all your money in 2008. But when you say you hate OJ Simpson, but never mention it’s
because he killed two people (allegedly), questions about why you hate him and
what you actually hate is appropriate.
Conor McGregor much like any white person accused of being racist gets every benefit of the doubt extended to them on the idea of new-age heighten sensitivity and or honest ignorance. That always gets to be the conclusion on the conversation without the accused ever having to admit fault or apologize to those who are offended. Those who approached me to discuss this fight also never brought up McGregor's serious issues of language in selling this fight. What a time to be alive that calling out someone on making racist remarks creates more attention and push-back than the actual racist words themselves.
So after the conclusion of tonight’s bout then what? Floyd wins, or a miracle occurs, okay, but what then? Well…
nothing. Boxing will disappear and return to its grave once again. We’ll
have football in a few weeks, basketball soon thereafter. There will be pennant races and the numerous UFC fights that have all but replaced boxing. Enjoy tonight – its spectacle and its very real art expressed between the two combatants. America has always been divided on race; tonight’s fight was
never going to undo that. This fight wont fix how men view and treat women.
We have to fix that on our own. What we cant do is try to unload our societal issues on a damn sporting event and use that as the reason we cant progress.These two dopes aren't holding us hostage on change. You can stop calling women bitches, you don't need a Jay-Z album absent of it to do so. You don't need the NFL to draw your attention to the plight of being a women in a abusive relationship. Skipping this fight doesn't make you more woke on anything, it just means you'll be the lame person in the office on Monday because you missed out on fun.
The only warning that should be attached to this fight is in
regards to whom you’re watching it with and where you decide to watch it. If
you are daring enough to go to a public space with a random selection of people
to watch this fight, you're signing up for a night you may not be comfortable with. Bars across the country will turn into a
falls count anywhere Royal Rumble, n-words with a hard r-sound might be flowing. The worst ingredient for a fight like this is alcohol and there will be lots of it with most not having to go to work tomorrow. Watch this fight, mind your mouth, and take your ass home.
Viewer discretion is advised. Please enjoy both responsibly and carefully.
Comments
Post a Comment