Pacquiao Loses Match / Mayweather Loses Honor

The rules of boxing allow a fighter to avoid engagement with his opponent by clinging or running, but returning some fire simply looks better. Last Saturday, Floyd Mayweather's fight or flight instinct appeared to have completely evolved into a hug or flight instinct. Manny Pacquiao dominated this contest in the eyes of most boxing-uninformed but manliness-conscious viewers by engaging his opponent relentlessly and confidently. Despite Barney the Dinosaur levels of cheeriness, a Filipino clearly came to fight, while an American came to cash a check and protect a title.

Mayweather landed a much higher percentage of his punches but looked like a little girl relying on the playground supervisor a much higher percentage of the time. Protecting solid-gold hands need not require jettisoning all public dignity. His safe performance resulted in a greater numeric score but also boos and jeers from many observers.

I won't go so far as to cast Manny in the good guy role against a villain, like many of his fans do. His sunny smile and ringside prayers could be just as much planned theater as Mayweather's gangsta-thug-with-my-mafia schtick. However, there's some evidence for Manny's service and spirituality but no evidence that any great boxer ever got into the sport hoping to avoid boxing as successfully as Mayweather just did. I won't say Manny was robbed with all his flailing around, but I will say the fans were.

I cannot claim to have the perspective of a true boxing aficionado. I was watching the bout at a bachata nightclub table that contained many empty bottles and a gorgeous scantily-clad woman between me and the screen. Nevertheless, Mayweather gained few fans in the cheap seats and did nothing to restore boxing's clash-of-the-titans aura. If his strategy becomes the rule, gloves will be replaced as the iconic boxing symbol by dainty running shoes.