Pacquiao vs. Mayweather has everything heavyweights lack

LA Boxing Examiner | Ricardo Lois

I am a card carrying member of the "I Do Not Watch Heavyweights" fan club.

[Harold Lederman's take on the Heavweights on video]

Muhammad Ali was a swell fighter. Mike Tyson was fun to watch. But those statements have nothing to do with the miserable state of the current heavyweight class.

Some experts say the lack of talent is the death kiss of the current crop of heavyweights. I disagree, it is the total lack of excitement these monsters bring into the ring.

What was the last world-class heavyweight fight that had you on the edge of your seats? The June, 2003 now epic battle between Vitali Klitschko and Lennox Lewis that took place right here, in Los Angeles? A fight that took place seven years ago?

Will we have to wait four score to see another heavyweight match-up that grabs our imaginations?

The heavyweight class, promoters of these lumbering lards, and broadcast networks should take note on the characteristics of boxing's best fight - Mayweather vs. Pacquiao - and why there is so much authentic energy surrounding it.

1. The men competing in the fight are actually in shape, because they must make a weight limit of some sort. Watching two guys with beer guys and flapping breasts is not fun, boxing needs to come-up with some sort of weight limits for the heavyweights. Sorry Chris Arreola, 260 pounds is not cool.
2. The public is demanding Mayweather vs. Pacquiao because they are the two best fighters in the world have been built up on HBO for several years. Buying fights on tape delay from Switzerland just spells "this is garbage." HBO needs to buy the best heavyweight fights possible that can be broadcast from the U.S. and keep the winners of these bouts active and fighting, thus building a fan base.
3. Neither Mayweather nor Pacquiao hold excessively. The punch and clinch style mastered by so many modern fights has penetrated the heavyweights, not so with Manny and Money. Money may box, but he does not hold, and Pacquiao is just a full throttle punching machine - neither man uses the clinch as a tactic. So many of todays heavyweight love to hug in the ring - a function of poor conditioning- that boxing commissions should force referees to take away points in the ring.

Just a few friendly suggestions for your local Los Angeles boxing scribe, but punctuate the poor state of heavyweights, HBO's unofficial judge and all around nice guy said it best in a recent interview. When asked how to bring some excitement into the heavyweights, he suggested that Manny Pacquiao to fight Vitali.

Source: Examiner.com