Were We Duped? The Mayweather Pacquiao Fight

By Tyler Berry


Mayweather vs. Pacquiao. Good vs. Evil. Abuser vs. Philanthropist. It was billed as the Fight of the Century. Instead, what we saw wasn’t even the best fight of the night. No one was in the arena or even watching their PPV feeds yet, but Lomachenko vs. Santa Cruz was a much more entertaining fight. Lomachenko was a monster in the ring, capping off a surge of strong punches with a ninth round knock out. The future, perhaps, was born on Saturday night.

But that’s not what we’re here to discuss. What we’re here to discuss is whether or not the two best, most famous fighters in the world pulled the wool over our eyes. Was this even a real fight? Or was is simply a glorified sparring match that was billed as a real fight?

My thoughts on this all started during Manny’s in-ring interview after the decision was announced. He was smiling and shaking the hands of fans, as if he had just knocked Money Mayweather out cold. In reality, he barely touched him, save for rounds four and six, and utterly, completely lost that fight. The kicker was during the interview, when Pacman straight up said that he thought he won the fight. He said verbatim, “he didn’t do nothing.” He, obviously referring to Mayweather. He didn’t do nothing. That’s absurd and my colleague/co-host, Drew pointed that out. He looked at me and asked “What if both these dudes just pulled a fast one on all of us?”

So after that, I couldn’t shake this feeling that we really were duped, that this whole thing was a ruse. You’re probably thinking that such a high profile event, one involving hundreds of millions of dollars and extensive planning, could never be “fake” or “a ruse.” Don’t be so quick to dismiss it though. Let’s look at some facts.

1. The Walk-Out Entourages

Floyd Mayweather is well-known for his extensive entourages, many times involving notorious d-bag, Justin Bieber. The Biebs has even been part of his walk-out entourage in the past. He’s not who I’m focused on for this. I’m more focused on the fact that the BURGER KING was part of Money’s walk-out crew. What in the world was that about? Product placement? Come on. That is completely unnecessary.

Pacman’s entourage isn’t much better. He walked out with Jimmy Kimmel dressed as if he came straight from a Run DMC video shoot.

You get four people, FOUR people, that walk out with you. You’re telling me that, in a serious fight, one that truly is the fight of the century, that the two fighters would walk out with a fast food mascot and a late night host? I don’t buy it.


2. It Was a Prepaid Fight

If I recall correctly, Mayweather received a check for $60 million before the fight and Pacquiao received around $40 million. Isn’t is possible that these two fighters saw those checks and realized that, hey, we don’t have to even go out and give it our all. We’re already getting more money than we can spend in a year. That “we” refers to normal people, not Money Mayweather.


3. The Undisclosed Injury

Manny decided that is would be a good idea to keep a serious shoulder tear from the Nevada State Athletic Commission until a couple of hours before the fight. In a post-fight interview, he used his injury as an excuse for his poor performance and lack of punch connection. This was the first that any of the public had heard about it. Really?

So you’re telling me that, after years of build up, Manny decides to go out with a serious injury and participate in the fight anyway? Some might say he was brave or a hero for giving it a go. I’m calling him a moron, a selfish moron.

True boxing fans (which I can’t even really consider myself, although I do really enjoy the sport) would have gladly waited longer for this fight to happen if it had been disclosed that Manny had a serious injury. Instead, his camp kept it from millions of people AND the Nevada State Athletic Commission. And now he’s facing possible legal trouble for hiding the injury. GOOD.


In the end, this was not the outcome anyone wanted to see. Floyd and Manny had a perfect opportunity to help bring about a boxing resurgence. They had the opportunity to capture a lot of new fans. Instead, they turned off millions of people from buying PPV fights, tickets, and anything to do with the sport of boxing.

The Fight of the Century? Are we sure?