Mayweather vs Paquiao

i respect mayweather

i ADMIRE paquiao

it took me a long time to get over my resentment towards mayweather for his persona

i actually feel somewhat piteous of him at this point, i see him as a classic example of a man with everything a man needs to be great, except for the thing he needs most of all; an understanding of the value of character

from what i can tell his greatest weakness is the conviction that greatness is measured exclusively by "success" without much consideration to the idea of personal growth. he is the star of his vision and life is not about what he can give, but what he can get.

but i dont really know this is how he feels, i only assume it from what i see

anyway, even if its accurate, i think ive seen signs from him that the persona hes built may crack as he ages - often it does, and hes certainly intelligent enough

he was challenged to read "green eggs and ham" at one point because his reading level is or was lower than the average 10 yr old

again, this is not for lack of intelligence
his business acumen for example is undeniably sharp

much of his bravado is calculated to insight emotional reaction

what i think is important to understand here is that mayweather is looking at making it into the history books as the greatest boxer to ever live

he is not viewing his career from the perspective of any single fight or fighter, but of the legacy he wants to leave behind

a huge part of his professional success is a result of knowing when he can win and when he cant

hes got a good plan for dealing with paq, dont doubt it

but i can tell when they stand next to each other that he is also genuinely nervous

i dont know who i think will win, moreover, i dont know who im hoping will win

on the one hand, i dont see that losing this fight would hurt paq overmuch, as a fighter or as a man

losing would end mayweathers undefeated streak and if i am correct, break his own personal vision for the mark he wants to make on the world

i dont know if it would be better for him to succeed or to fail
what would be better for him as a man?
what would be better for boxing?
for the spirit of human achievement?

but as i said, i ADMIRE paquiao

theres definitely a lot more going on here than JUST a boxing match

heres a 50 minute docu on paquiao

its the shortest one i could find that also gave enough info to really be worthwhile

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPfCxOJYEok

Edan wrote:

RyuJin wrote: ..just like silva did in the ufc....

And a fan of the ufc? Excellent

i've been following the ufc since before it had rules....i still have the vhs copies of ufc 2 and 3....i was a senior in high school (12th year) for them....

Speaking of the UFC, when is someone going to teach Jon Jones a lesson? The guy eye-pokes in almost every fight now, he threw a sucker punch at DC in their last match, shows no respect at all for any of his opponents or the sport, and in my opinion is in dire need of a lesson in humility.

its not just jones (but hes the worst) eyepoking has become a common and unaddressed tactic in the octagon

when dana bought Pride only to eliminate it as competition i thought "ufc is going to kill mma"

i remember the old school real ULTIMATE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP too
it was a totally different ideal than MMA

i like mma, but dana used to talk about how the scumbags took over boxing

lol
right

i remember when "matt hughs looks like an arrogant jerk" was just about the biggest character critique you could find on ufc fighters

those days are gone

i dont even watch it much anymore

remember tank abbot....just a straight out brawler....i never like royce gracie...he was too cocky/arrogant...plus his fights were just soooooo boring....my all time favorite fight was the 175 pound kempo fighter beating the sumo....his spinning heel kick just sort of bounced off the sumo's stomach like he was the blob from xmen...then he round kicks the knee dropping the sumo, then just went to town on his head....breaking his hand in the process....

it would have been awesome to see bruce lee in the early days of the ufc...too bad he'd have been an old man by then...

Ah yeah...UFC 4 I think it was...Keith Hackney and Emmanuel Yarborough. I saw that match live on TV. That, and Hackney's next appearance against the guy who played Random Task in the Austin Powers movie - Joe Son. That was a rough one to watch.

I think it's been interesting over the years as the various disciplines have morphed when exposed to MMA - they all have something to learn from one another. At the same time, pure boxers like Mayweather and Paquiao are still amazing to watch because the principles of excellence are the same regardless of the medium.

TheDude wrote: Speaking of the UFC, when is someone going to teach Jon Jones a lesson? The guy eye-pokes in almost every fight now, he threw a sucker punch at DC in their last match, shows no respect at all for any of his opponents or the sport, and in my opinion is in dire need of a lesson in humility.

Possibly never now, he's potentially facing prison for a hit and run. The title has already been stripped from him.

RyuJin wrote: remember tank abbot....just a straight out brawler....i never like royce gracie...he was too cocky/arrogant...plus his fights were just soooooo boring....my all time favorite fight was the 175 pound kempo fighter beating the sumo....his spinning heel kick just sort of bounced off the sumo's stomach like he was the blob from xmen...then he round kicks the knee dropping the sumo, then just went to town on his head....breaking his hand in the process....

it would have been awesome to see bruce lee in the early days of the ufc...too bad he'd have been an old man by then...

My dad still talks about that fight. I don't think I've ever heard him talk about UFC without brining it up.

Goken wrote:

RyuJin wrote: remember tank abbot....just a straight out brawler....i never like royce gracie...he was too cocky/arrogant...plus his fights were just soooooo boring....my all time favorite fight was the 175 pound kempo fighter beating the sumo....his spinning heel kick just sort of bounced off the sumo's stomach like he was the blob from xmen...then he round kicks the knee dropping the sumo, then just went to town on his head....breaking his hand in the process....

it would have been awesome to see bruce lee in the early days of the ufc...too bad he'd have been an old man by then...

My dad still talks about that fight. I don't think I've ever heard him talk about UFC without brining it up.

that fight proved that it doesn't matter what style you use, or how big you are, you can still win if you fight smart...

I'm lucky enough to work as a camera guy from time to time for King of the Cage and I'll tell you this much. The amateurs are WAY more fun to watch than the pros when it comes to MMA. They are a bit more reckless and inexperienced so you see more mistakes and knockouts, but they are also really hungry to win and they fight with their hearts. It's less posturing and more action.