photo: Stephanie Trapp @TrappFotos

The fight of the century turned out to be the perfect ending to an era of boxing in the welterweight division that was the “what-if” period of boxing in which we never seemed to ever get the fights we wanted. No matter if you’re a fan of Floyd Mayweather or Manny Pacquiao, the fight was what it was, with both fighters having moments, it wasn’t painful dull as ESPN wants you to believe, but it wasn’t an instant classic either. This was a battle between two superstars that are first to exist in the social media era and the fact that the fight actually happened seemed to breath more optimism into the sport of boxing as it appears that maybe, just maybe we might get the best fights available consistently.

On the podium in the middle of the ring, Mayweather echoed the sentiment that I remember oddly from a song in 2005 that deeply depressed. The song was  “Losing My Love” by Juelz Santana and it was sad, because at the time Juelz was my favorite rapper and the song seemingly stated that he just didn’t love rapping anymore. Mayweather sat in the middle of the ring after a receiving a 100 million dollar check before heading to the press conference and sounded like a man that just doesn’t want to fight anymore.

“My love and passion for boxing is not the same.” Mayweather explained. Mayweather furthered that on Monday he will vacate the WBO, WBC and WBA welterweight titles as well as well as the WBA and WBC super welterweight title so the young generation can fight for the titles. I think also not having to pay sanctioning fees will help make that decision easier as well.

Mayweather wanted to celebrate unlike a lot of the previous Mayweather fights, this one felt like it was close to the end as he refused to talk about his next fight which he continued to refer to as his last fight. “I think it hasn’t even been two hours and you’re throwing me back into battle.” Mayweather said as he began to pour a Coca-Cola beverage on stage in MGM Garden Arena. Mayweather furthered by asking the media to just let him enjoy his victory as he appeared tired from stress and just burnt out.

Mayweather in many ways echoed the words of a member of The Sex Pistols, Sid Vicious, who covered a Frank Sinatra song “My Way” as he explained he came into boxing to do things his way and never wanted to outdo anyone. It was a very punk rock statement coming from someone who embodies the establishments agenda of capitalism so much as it felt like a rare moment of sincerity from Mayweather.

As Mayweather reflected upon the fight briefly commenting that “I think every fight played a major key, not just one fight, but every fight played a major key.” Yet Mayweather understood why Pacquiao was so great, but appeared hurt by the statement that Pacquiao made earlier in the evening stating he had an injured shoulder.

Bob Arum, Pacquiao’s promoter,  explained prior that “…athletes always fight hurt, we felt the work that was done on the shoulder during training would give him the ability to use the shoulder” when explain why Pacquiao fought hurt. Pacquiao furthered this statement saying “The thing is, the third round I felt the pain in my shoulder…” seemingly blaming the loss on his body.

It seemed that Mayweather was a bit hurt by the comments as he remarked that he was also fighting hurt giving vague references to his hands and shoulders not be 100% as well.

Probably the most bizarre aspect of the post fight press conference was the fact that Manny Pacquiao still believes he won the fight, which will seems hard to fathom. Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach furthered this by saying “…it was very close and we would love to do it again.”

One thing is for sure, it seems like both fighters don’t have much more left in the sport and this was one of the last instances to catch both of them before they’re gone from the sport for good. When watching two of the best in the sport rather than be bitter or negative remember what they were for their era and understand the stress and pressure of the circumstance before passing judgement.