Don’t Call It a Sport

Boxing should no longer be called a sport. Not after the farce Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr. put on earlier this month. Not surprisingly, Mayweather came out victorious winning a ridiculous split decision in the over-hyped, immediately forgettable bout. Despite the fact that the fight never had a chance to match the hype leading up to it, it was still a must-see event to even the casual boxing fan like myself despite the $55 dollar price tag. Reinforcing that sentiment was news that the fight proved to be the most lucrative in the history of boxing. Well, all 2 million plus buyers should demand a refund. After hearing of his record setting bout, promoter/loser Oscar De La Hoya had this to share:

"I'm ecstatic. Of course, the money makes me really happy, but just having those records and being a non-heavyweight is an accomplishment in itself. To break the 1.99 million mark goes to show you that Golden Boy Promotions likes to do things in a big way. I think everyone targeted the 1.4 million mark, but me and [Golden Boy CEO] Richard [Schaefer] were always shooting for the 2 million mark. It's amazing."

Thank you, Oscar. Maybe you should mention that you lost the fight, but I guess the actual competition comes second to the almighty dollar. Herein lies the problem with having a fighter also be his own promoter. For all I know the De La Hoya-Mayweather “fight” was nothing more than a staged performance. The entire production, from the cross-country promotional tour to the HBO reality show to the fight itself, more closely resembled the WWE than an actual sporting event. The nation bought into the marketing ploy as a record number paid the high price for a low form of "sports enertainment." De La Hoya and Mayweather were laughing all the way to bank before the opening bell. The main goal of these two “fighters” wasn’t to try to win a sport contest, but to create a spectacle leading up to the fight that would entice fans to buy it. Their jobs were done before ever hitting the ring.