After what some had hoped to be the "fight of the century" turned out to be, what some would want you to believe, the "bore of the century", I thought I should share some of my views.
On the Fight of the Century
Based on their reputations and fighting styles what did we expect the outcome to be? Manny is a high work-rate, high energy power-puncher who would look to out-punch his opponents. Mayweather on the other hand is cautious, defensive, economical, and would more likely look to outlast his opponents. Which of the two styles is superior to the other comes down to personal preferences,much like the parking-the-bus vs. all-out-attack debate in football. As in any fight it comes down to who,based on their fighting styles, can execute their plan better . With that in mind I have always felt that for Manny to win he had to either knock Mayweather out or completely dominate him and inflict some serious damage on him. My question then becomes, why are people surprised in the outcome? Why are we acting as if Mayweather has always been some knockout-guns-blazing-all-out-power-puncher-pugilist and that this very typical Mayweatherlike performance renders his win invalid and that he has somehow let the fans down. Surely we weren't expecting a K.O. from Mayweather were we? What I expected to see was for Manny to take the fight to Mayweather and ask some serious question of his fabled defensive game and hopefully do something 47 other fighters had failed to do. What I expected from Mayweather was his usual duck-and-dodge and accuracy-over-power schtick. In the end we got the latter, which unfortunately was never going to be the more exciting of the two possible outcomes. If anyone let the fans down its Manny, he didn't do what he is known to do well to warrant a win. The bottomline is Mayweather did what we know him to do best better than what we know to Manny do best.
The Mayweather Hate
What I really would like for us to discuss is the apparent dislike for Mayweather that mainstream America, and the media, has and how it will ultimately diminish his legacy. And whether this phenomena is specific to Mayweather alone or does it carry over to other successful black athletes in America and across the world. Let me be very clear that I do not condone some of the behaviors that Mayweather has and continues to exhibit, in particular the domestic abuse, misogyny, and the unabashed show of wealth and excess. What I take issue with is whether those "flaws" he exhibits in his personal life warrant the dislike and the apparent attempts to diminish his accomplishments as a boxer. We have seen this time and time again when we get an exceptional once-in-a-lifetime black athlete who does not quite fit into the "norm" of a class-act athlete, people and the media are quick to use those flaws to somehow lessen the greatness of the said athlete.
Leading up to the fight the majority of people were hoping for Mayweather to lose. And all you heard was how much of a class-act Manny was versus how pompus and uncouth Mayweather is and thus he deserves to lose. And on normal circumstances I would agree because ultimately Manny is the more likable of the two and as human beings we will always root for perceived good to triumph over perceived evil. But on his case and the case for many other black athletes I question whether the perceived lack of "class" is the only driving factor in the dislike and borderline hate these athletes get. Never has the world hoped so much for an athlete to go broke as they do for Mayweather, because this will prove that he is not intelligent just like many other black athletes before him and that in someway his wealth was perhaps not warranted ergo at that point fate would have set the world right.
Whether his boxing endeavors warrant the amount of wealth he has amassed is a completely different debate that should focus more on our reward systems and values as a society. What we cannot deny is the fact that he has taken the system at hand and utilized it more expertly than any before him to get to where he is both financially and professionally. How many careers and lives of boxers have been ruined by promoters who only had their own best interest at heart and left most of them poor and physically damaged for the rest of their lives. Mayweather has worked hard to retain his perfect record and has also used it from a business point of view to dictate his own terms, from how much he makes to whom and when he fights. And if that is not the hallmark of an intelligent man I don't know what is.
His challenge will now be to transition from a working athlete to the next stage in his life without a dramatic change to his lifestyle and he can, he only has to look at people like Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson to see how that is possible. Regardless of whether I think if Mayweather is a "good" role model or not, or if he does enough for his community, what I would like to see is for him to continue to well financially and prove to be another exception the rule of many black athletes going broke a few years after their professional careers conclude. His doing well beyond boxing can only be good for improving the perception of black athletes and their perceived inferior intelligence to their counterparts.
The successful Black athlete
As I have alluded previously, this phenomena of unwarranted dislike is not limited to Black-American athletes, but America more so than other countries offer far raging examples, mainly because I think it has produced more black athletes that have transcended geographical borders when it comes to popularity. For the successful black athlete in the world that is a minority in his own country, it would seem that respect always comes more from outside his home country than from within.For the successful black American athlete this phenomena has it roots in the ugly history of discrimination and racism that the country still wrestles with today.
You read of Jesse Owens a man whose achievements in the 1936 Berlin Olympics surpass anything Usain Bolt has or will ever do in one games and scored a great victory for America and the world from a political point of view as well, yet he returned home where his own president didn't do so much as acknowledge him. Take for example the amount off respect that Ali commanded all over the world at a time when some elements from his own country were determined to diminish his legacy to oblivion. I'm not implying that the same is what is happening to black athletes today, because it is not. Black athletes today are paid enormously well compared to their counterparts of yesteryear and do receive a lot more recognition and acclaim than those who preceded them. There are also great examples of black athletes who have broken into the mainstream, are well liked, and command great respect in society. As mentioned before the likes of Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan are just a few of those who have managed to do so. George Foreman is another great example, in fact he's made more money in his business endeavors post-boxing than he did when he boxed.
What I'm asking is whether the dislike,vitriol and borderline hatred directed at the "less-likable" black athletes is really only due to their perceived "un-likability" and character flaws or is it merely an excuse for much deeper sentiments that have yet to completely disappear from a society that has long history of holding unfavorable views of the black race.You only have to read the comment sections of US Yahoo Sports articles to see the terrible abuse Serena Williams suffers irregardless of how she has performed on a particular tournament. Its the same issue with Lewis Hamilton who seems to have had to do a lot more than the average popular British athlete to garner the respect accorded to the Cavendishes, Wiggins and McIlroys. In many ways Hamilton has yet to command that same respect, we have elements who would completely agree that Wiggins is worthy of a Knighthood yet you would not hear the same notions expressed for a Hamilton or Mo Farah although they have achieved comparably similar in their respective fields.
From Ali, Tyson, the Williams sisters, Tiger Woods, Lewis Hamilton and many others, we see again and again where due to some perceived notion of noting fitting the ideal of an athlete of a certain sport and in some cases some serious character flaws, the accomplishment of a said athlete are diminished and sometimes ignored. In some cases the criticism of the athlete moves form being constructive professional analysis on their body of work to personal hateful commentary on looks and intellect. For as great a tennis player she is, Serena will always be derided for her perceived advantage because of her physical build and how she might not fit into the ideal of beauty in the mainstream. We've seen cases where the media is more prone to praise a black athletes physical abilities before their intelligence or if at all. Basketball IQ is something you hear more attributed to a Steve Nash or Larry Bird versus the athleticism and physical gifts of a LeBron or a Blake Griffin.
I realize the fight has been talked about a lot on here and starting another thread about it might seems a bit excessive but I think there is an important take away from the fight particularly how it was covered in the media and how society views the fighters involved to warrant a broader discussion than just what happened in the fight. Below are some really interesting opinions of people that I stumbled upon on the internets.
Kristian123, London, United Kingdom, 14 hours ago
Complaining about Mayweather abillity to make money, besides boxing? Please! If Mayweather was white, he would be hailed as the most skilled, clever and intelligent boxer ever.
Jeffrey, Glasgow, United Kingdom, 13 hours ago
Exactly! I couldn't put it any better..Pacman was the closest to white they could get to support against Mayweather but Floyd is wise to this and just uses it to make more money...whupass!
Floyd Mayweather is fighting our culture, claims rapper 50 Cent- | Daily Mail Online
On the Fight of the Century
Based on their reputations and fighting styles what did we expect the outcome to be? Manny is a high work-rate, high energy power-puncher who would look to out-punch his opponents. Mayweather on the other hand is cautious, defensive, economical, and would more likely look to outlast his opponents. Which of the two styles is superior to the other comes down to personal preferences,much like the parking-the-bus vs. all-out-attack debate in football. As in any fight it comes down to who,based on their fighting styles, can execute their plan better . With that in mind I have always felt that for Manny to win he had to either knock Mayweather out or completely dominate him and inflict some serious damage on him. My question then becomes, why are people surprised in the outcome? Why are we acting as if Mayweather has always been some knockout-guns-blazing-all-out-power-puncher-pugilist and that this very typical Mayweatherlike performance renders his win invalid and that he has somehow let the fans down. Surely we weren't expecting a K.O. from Mayweather were we? What I expected to see was for Manny to take the fight to Mayweather and ask some serious question of his fabled defensive game and hopefully do something 47 other fighters had failed to do. What I expected from Mayweather was his usual duck-and-dodge and accuracy-over-power schtick. In the end we got the latter, which unfortunately was never going to be the more exciting of the two possible outcomes. If anyone let the fans down its Manny, he didn't do what he is known to do well to warrant a win. The bottomline is Mayweather did what we know him to do best better than what we know to Manny do best.
The Mayweather Hate
What I really would like for us to discuss is the apparent dislike for Mayweather that mainstream America, and the media, has and how it will ultimately diminish his legacy. And whether this phenomena is specific to Mayweather alone or does it carry over to other successful black athletes in America and across the world. Let me be very clear that I do not condone some of the behaviors that Mayweather has and continues to exhibit, in particular the domestic abuse, misogyny, and the unabashed show of wealth and excess. What I take issue with is whether those "flaws" he exhibits in his personal life warrant the dislike and the apparent attempts to diminish his accomplishments as a boxer. We have seen this time and time again when we get an exceptional once-in-a-lifetime black athlete who does not quite fit into the "norm" of a class-act athlete, people and the media are quick to use those flaws to somehow lessen the greatness of the said athlete.
Leading up to the fight the majority of people were hoping for Mayweather to lose. And all you heard was how much of a class-act Manny was versus how pompus and uncouth Mayweather is and thus he deserves to lose. And on normal circumstances I would agree because ultimately Manny is the more likable of the two and as human beings we will always root for perceived good to triumph over perceived evil. But on his case and the case for many other black athletes I question whether the perceived lack of "class" is the only driving factor in the dislike and borderline hate these athletes get. Never has the world hoped so much for an athlete to go broke as they do for Mayweather, because this will prove that he is not intelligent just like many other black athletes before him and that in someway his wealth was perhaps not warranted ergo at that point fate would have set the world right.
Whether his boxing endeavors warrant the amount of wealth he has amassed is a completely different debate that should focus more on our reward systems and values as a society. What we cannot deny is the fact that he has taken the system at hand and utilized it more expertly than any before him to get to where he is both financially and professionally. How many careers and lives of boxers have been ruined by promoters who only had their own best interest at heart and left most of them poor and physically damaged for the rest of their lives. Mayweather has worked hard to retain his perfect record and has also used it from a business point of view to dictate his own terms, from how much he makes to whom and when he fights. And if that is not the hallmark of an intelligent man I don't know what is.
His challenge will now be to transition from a working athlete to the next stage in his life without a dramatic change to his lifestyle and he can, he only has to look at people like Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson to see how that is possible. Regardless of whether I think if Mayweather is a "good" role model or not, or if he does enough for his community, what I would like to see is for him to continue to well financially and prove to be another exception the rule of many black athletes going broke a few years after their professional careers conclude. His doing well beyond boxing can only be good for improving the perception of black athletes and their perceived inferior intelligence to their counterparts.
The successful Black athlete
As I have alluded previously, this phenomena of unwarranted dislike is not limited to Black-American athletes, but America more so than other countries offer far raging examples, mainly because I think it has produced more black athletes that have transcended geographical borders when it comes to popularity. For the successful black athlete in the world that is a minority in his own country, it would seem that respect always comes more from outside his home country than from within.For the successful black American athlete this phenomena has it roots in the ugly history of discrimination and racism that the country still wrestles with today.
You read of Jesse Owens a man whose achievements in the 1936 Berlin Olympics surpass anything Usain Bolt has or will ever do in one games and scored a great victory for America and the world from a political point of view as well, yet he returned home where his own president didn't do so much as acknowledge him. Take for example the amount off respect that Ali commanded all over the world at a time when some elements from his own country were determined to diminish his legacy to oblivion. I'm not implying that the same is what is happening to black athletes today, because it is not. Black athletes today are paid enormously well compared to their counterparts of yesteryear and do receive a lot more recognition and acclaim than those who preceded them. There are also great examples of black athletes who have broken into the mainstream, are well liked, and command great respect in society. As mentioned before the likes of Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan are just a few of those who have managed to do so. George Foreman is another great example, in fact he's made more money in his business endeavors post-boxing than he did when he boxed.
What I'm asking is whether the dislike,vitriol and borderline hatred directed at the "less-likable" black athletes is really only due to their perceived "un-likability" and character flaws or is it merely an excuse for much deeper sentiments that have yet to completely disappear from a society that has long history of holding unfavorable views of the black race.You only have to read the comment sections of US Yahoo Sports articles to see the terrible abuse Serena Williams suffers irregardless of how she has performed on a particular tournament. Its the same issue with Lewis Hamilton who seems to have had to do a lot more than the average popular British athlete to garner the respect accorded to the Cavendishes, Wiggins and McIlroys. In many ways Hamilton has yet to command that same respect, we have elements who would completely agree that Wiggins is worthy of a Knighthood yet you would not hear the same notions expressed for a Hamilton or Mo Farah although they have achieved comparably similar in their respective fields.
From Ali, Tyson, the Williams sisters, Tiger Woods, Lewis Hamilton and many others, we see again and again where due to some perceived notion of noting fitting the ideal of an athlete of a certain sport and in some cases some serious character flaws, the accomplishment of a said athlete are diminished and sometimes ignored. In some cases the criticism of the athlete moves form being constructive professional analysis on their body of work to personal hateful commentary on looks and intellect. For as great a tennis player she is, Serena will always be derided for her perceived advantage because of her physical build and how she might not fit into the ideal of beauty in the mainstream. We've seen cases where the media is more prone to praise a black athletes physical abilities before their intelligence or if at all. Basketball IQ is something you hear more attributed to a Steve Nash or Larry Bird versus the athleticism and physical gifts of a LeBron or a Blake Griffin.
I realize the fight has been talked about a lot on here and starting another thread about it might seems a bit excessive but I think there is an important take away from the fight particularly how it was covered in the media and how society views the fighters involved to warrant a broader discussion than just what happened in the fight. Below are some really interesting opinions of people that I stumbled upon on the internets.
Kristian123, London, United Kingdom, 14 hours ago
Complaining about Mayweather abillity to make money, besides boxing? Please! If Mayweather was white, he would be hailed as the most skilled, clever and intelligent boxer ever.
Jeffrey, Glasgow, United Kingdom, 13 hours ago
Exactly! I couldn't put it any better..Pacman was the closest to white they could get to support against Mayweather but Floyd is wise to this and just uses it to make more money...whupass!
Floyd Mayweather is fighting our culture, claims rapper 50 Cent- | Daily Mail Online
