Mayweather vs. Ortiz Undercard: Friday Weigh-in Dampens a Promising Fight

It's commonplace these days, but it's still disgusting every time.

What I'm talking about is the pre-fight banter and machismo that comes standard with every match in this era of boxing, the same banter and machismo that saw Floyd Mayweather Jr. grab the neck of Victor Ortiz in their Friday weigh-in before tonight's fight in Las Vegas.

Obviously, it generally makes a lot of sense these days. The boxing isn't the same as in the olden days of Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier, when no amount of trash-talking could ever be followed by disappointment.

But the trend these days is to create as much excitement as possible, by any means necessary, and hope people will pay for the fight because of it.

That's what makes Mayweather and Ortiz's standoff on Friday all the more appalling. This has the potential to be one of the better fights in a while, but Mayweather still feels the need to grab Ortiz's neck just to add more fireworks.

Boxing used to be about simply the art; if you were good enough, you didn't need to hype everything up. What Mayweather doesn't understand is that most boxing fans will pay for this regardless of what happens before the fight.

In turn, boxing has disintegrated into a world where boxers all too often shoot their mouths off when it's not really needed, and it leads to massive disappointment when the fight doesn't come through.

A fighter like Mayweather doesn't impress me when he grabs a man's neck. To think he would impress anyone shows how insecure he is outside of the ring. Thus far, Ortiz has kept his mouth shut, and because of that very fact he is doing more a service to boxing than Mayweather is.

Sure, Mayweather is one of the greatest of his generation inside the ring, but he also has the potential to lead the way in bringing the sport of boxing back from the doldrums it has entered. And he doesn't have to say anything to accomplish this; just fight.

Manny Pacquiao understands this.

Why can't Mayweather?

For more reaction, results and analysis of this epic face-off in Las Vegas, stay right here. For all the info you need on all things boxing, be sure to check out Bleacher Report's Boxing Central.