Boxing is Bigger than Two Men

I have always been an avid fan of boxing and I enjoy watching both Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao fight over the last decade and decade and a half. But I have grown tired of the Pacquioa Mayweather debate on every sports column, blog, and website and I hope other people have as well. Don't get me wrong it would be great for boxing, more money generated than Ali vs Foreman, good vs evil, money money money, blah blah blah. These are all supposed to be talking points for promoters yet it seems to be coming up more on comment boards, blogs and various other places where people are not paid to hype up a fight that has yet to occur. The Rumble in the Jungle was not about how many tickets it sold (though I'm sure someone has a record of it somewhere), it was about the greatest of the era fighting each other. Most would argue Pacquioa and Mayweather are the best of their era and most would be right, but this should be demanded by fans for that reason. However at the same time, the sport of boxing does not consist of only one super fight every generation. Mega fights don't come along every decade, they come along when two fighters put on a terrific performance against each other; their name, background, title or any other myriad of stats are irrelevant. The Gatti Ward trilogy were fights between two men who had suffered defeats and weren't even fighting for a belt, but it is hailed as one of the greatest fights of the 2000's.

The Purse is irrelevant, the names are only as good as the wars they have been involved in and the wars they will be in. Let’s face it, and I'm talking to true boxing fans, should any of us care how many Pay Per View buys a fight generates. True boxing fans should not be sucked into a vacuum where all of a sport’s fate relies on two men. Boxing is fine with or without this fight and the simplest reason is that there are more than two fighters in this sport to pine over. At the end of the day if Money and Pacman never fight Angulo vs Kirkland will still happen, Cotto will remain relevant, Adrian Broner will continue fighting, Marcos Maidana will continue jockeying for rematches. All of these fighters still exist as well as countless others. It is the promoter's job to hype up a fight that may never be, not the fans. You know what you want to see, a phenomenal fight that can be talked about for years. Between who really doesn’t matter.