I watched the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight.
As a feminist, hearing about Mayweather’s history of domestic violence should have driven me to boycott the match. Unfortunately, as a fight fan, knowing about Mayweather’s behaviour also made me want to watch the fight; I really wanted to see him be defeated.
Every punch that Pacquiao landed was satisfying, even though having watched it makes me feel like a terrible person.
While I disagree with Pacquiao’s hard line stance against birth control of any kind, it was easy to root for a guy who consistently pours the money he wins back into his community and a variety of charities. Reportedly, Pacquiao will even be giving away half of the prize money he earned from his fight with Mayweather.
Let’s also not forget how awesome it was that Pacquiao invited Jimmy Kimmel (dressed as Justin Bieber) to join him for his grand entrance.
Like so many others, I was caught up in the fight that had been framed as a battle between good vs. evil. While many journalists and bloggers called readers to boycott the fight, “early reports indicate that Mayweather vs. Pacquiao was the most-watched PPV event of all time”. For those of us who caved and watched the fight anyway, Mayweather’s behaviour during and after the fight only helped boost the case against him. Boxing fans were angry about his sportsmanship in the match, where he alternated between avoiding Pacquiao-
and holding him close so that Pacquiao couldn’t make any punches.
Following the fight, Mayweather flashed reporters his first cheque, for $100 million, while fans boiled from home. The acquaintance who hosted us for the fight referred to it as “the crime of the century”, and equated it to “daylight robbery”.
https://twitter.com/yao_ge/status/595724734962257921
Between his shameful history, boring fight, and crowd-angering personality, did Mayweather just drive the last nail in the coffin of boxing? Maybe. But if a domestic abuser is going to be the face of the sport, I’m not really sure I care.
Culture War Reporters 
You don’t know shit about boxing.
You’re right. My knowledge of boxing is very limited, since I’m still learning. However, that doesn’t mean I’m not interested in the sport. It also doesn’t mean that I can’t express my opinion on what I observed. Thanks for your very thoughtful criticism.
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