Mayweather-Big Show: 20 Million Reasons Why This Will be a Stunt in the Worse Possible Way

tophatal — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 08:03:28 -0500

It seems that being the modern-day Phinnaeus T Barnum isn't enough for wrestling mogul Vince McMahon at this juncture.

In his proposed upcoming spectacle, Wrestlemania XXIV, he's enticing the public with a PPV event where current lt. middleweight champion of the world, Floyd Mayweather Jr., will take on one of the more lugubrious entities within the WWE organization.

The name of the opponent in question is none other than Big Show. The name itself should tell you all you need to know about the proposed bout.

We've seen the efforts of Sly Stallone's Rocky portrayal where he took on Terry Bollea, aka Hulk Hogan, in one of the eponymous Rocky movies. That farce was one for the ages! As too was Ali's spectacle where he fought Japanese wrestler Antonio Inoue'.

Be it for money or not, it's been alleged that Mayweather will earn about $20 million for his efforts. Considering that he'll be outweighed by as much as 300 pounds and overshadowed by more than 17 inches, I'd say the money he'll be earning is well worth it.

Scripted or not, WWE shows tend to be nothing more than fun and games for the fans. And for the participants it's nothing more than a day at the office.

The event itself will take place March 30 at the Amway Arena in Orlando. Is Madison Square Garden or the MGM Grand in Vegas not worthy of this event? I guess the lowest common denominator has to be in play here. Give the fans what they want and they'll milk it for all it's worth.

The irony of this all is that there will be people all too willing to pay the outlay of $29.95 or more to watch this farce. This merely heightens the fact that the sport of boxing has hit on hard times. The fans are no longer ravenous for the sport as it has seen its popularity supplanted by the more entertaining genre of Mixed Martial Arts. Value for money? Probably more than many of the cards we've seen from within boxing as of late, including their undercards.

The WWE knows how to put on their spectacles and sell them to an ever-eager audience. At the end of the day, that’s all Vince McMahon wants out of this. The rest, as they say, is just business.

For Mayweather this might hurt his legacy, but what the hell does he care? For him it's become nothing more than money. It's not as if he's going to lose, is it? These shows are nothing more than scripted soap operas where there always has to be a hero and a villain.

It's pretty clear who will be the hero and who will be the villain. It's just a matter of who the fans want to see prevail.

tophatal...

Pavlik-Taylor: Kelly Pavlik Comes Out Victorious

tophatal — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 04:01:16 -0500

Without any major problems, current middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik of Youngstown, Ohio easily defeated former champion Jermain Taylor of Fayetteville, Arkansas in their rematch.

On the surface, for most fans it didn’t come as a great surprise.

Taylor as champion has been less than spectacular. Having only defended the title twice, there wasn't much there to lead one to believe that he’d be a great and lasting champion within the division. He's something of a one-dimensional fighter that lacks real punching power, despite his record.

Pavlik, on the other hand, has been seen as a more determined fighter who’s eager to please the crowds and fans alike. It’s something that seems to be ingrained into his fighting style.

He's more of a warrior who’s willing to take risks when necessary.

Through much of the fight it was Pavlik who dictated the pace, leaving Taylor to battle back into the bout.

Though it was a unanimous verdict in favor of the Ohioan, many felt that the fight was a lot closer.

As a boxing purist I’d tend to disagree with that.

At no time during the fight did Taylor really do anything of merit to suggest that he was capable of winning the fight at all.

Taylor now stands at a boxing crossroads as he has now lost two fights to his successor as champion.

It would appear that if he remains within the division, things aren’t liable to get any better for him.

The other titleholders within the division Arthur Abraham and Felix Sturm, though not highly touted, are more than capable of being a test for the former champion.

At this juncture it's highly unlikely that Taylor would want to face either of the two.

So it may well be that he decides to move up a weight settle within the super middleweight division. That may well be his best option at this juncture.

Pavlik, on the other hand, the world would seem to be his oyster. His purse from this bout alone was his biggest of his professional career by far.

The purse of $2.5 million plus a percentage of the gross gate receipts has left him considering what one would consider to be a bright future for the 25 year old.

Pavlik's long-term goals are to unify the middleweight division much as in the same way former champion Bernard Hopkins was able to do.

If Pavlik can garner the same sort of success as Hopkins, then it can be said that he's proven himself to be a noteworthy champion.

On the horizon, it can be said that match-ups against either Abraham or Strum aren't beyond the realm of possibility. The thought is that both fighters, in order to raise their profiles, would be to face Pavlik here in the US.

The financial rewards by far would be greater here than facing Pavlik in Europe. That's something that, no doubt, would find persuasive and to their mutual benefit.

But for the time being we'll just have to wait and see what materializes at this juncture.

Bleacher Report - Articles by tophatal

Mayweather-Big Show: 20 Million Reasons Why This Will be a Stunt in the Worse Possible Way

Pavlik-Taylor: Kelly Pavlik Comes Out Victorious