Mayweather vs Pacquiao: should you watch the big fight?

The prospect of watching Floyd Mayweather Jr finally go toe-to-toe with Manny Pacquiao in the early hours of Sunday morning is one many British fight fans will find hard to resist.

The match in Las Vegas should settle the long-running argument over who is the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, although many aficionados think the US defensive genius and the Filipino southpaw are, at 38 and 36 respectively, past their prime.

Mayweather and Pacquiao have both won world titles at different weights but arranging a showdown has taken years of wrangling, with each camp accusing the other of trying to duck the fight.

In recent days though, a bigger controversy is gripping the US sports media: should viewers tune in at all, given Mayweather’s long history of domestic violence?

Domestic violence

Mayweather has had a number of brushes with the law and was recently banned from entering Australia because of his criminal record.

In 2002 he was given a six-month suspended sentence and two days of house arrest after pleading guilty to two counts of battery domestic violence against Melissa Brim, the mother of his oldest daughter.

Two years later the boxer was convicted of two counts of misdemeanour battery after an incident involving two women in a nightclub. Again, he received a suspended sentence.

In 2005 Mayweather was acquitted of hitting and kicking Josie Harris, the mother of three of his children.

No sport should be hailing a convicted domestic violence perpetrator as a hero
Polly Neate, Women’s Aid

He received a 90-day prison sentence in 2011 after pleading guilty to misdemeanour battery and harassment charges following an attack on Harris at her home.

Harris told police Mayweather punched her in the back of the head and two of his children witnessed the incident. Despite the guilty pleas, he later offered his own version of events.

‘Only God can judge me’

Mayweather has shown few signs of remorse or regret over his behaviour, despite several guilty pleas.

Last year he was repeatedly questioned about his criminal record in a CNN interview but said: “When it is all said and done, only God can judge me.”

Things happen. Malcolm X been to jail. Martin Luther King been to jail. Floyd Mayweather

Asked about his time in jail in a Washington Post interview, he said: “Things happen. Malcolm X been to jail. Martin Luther King been to jail. The list goes on and on. You live and you learn.

“But I think the main thing, I think people should just learn from the mistakes that are made. And I’m not saying that when I went to jail it was a mistake. But things happen and you live and you learn.”

When ESPN’s Outside the Lines programme asked Mayweather whether boxing’s governing bodies should have sanctioned him over his domestic violence convictions, Mayweather replied: “Honestly, I want everybody to tune in May second. Mayweather versus Pacquiao. This is the fight that you can’t miss.”

‘Money’ Mayweather

The fight is expected to begin at around 4am UK time on Sunday morning and is only available via pay-per-view.

Mayweather, who boasts a 47-0 undefeated professional record, is the bookmakers’ favourite and has said he will take the lion’s share of the profit.

The older fighter has said he expects to make as much as $200m from the fight, with industry commentators putting his earnings at least $100m.

Millions of fans in the US expected to pay up to $99 to watch the action at home in high definition.

British fight followers will have to watch via Sky Sports Box Office or go to one of many sports bars who are showing the fight at £20 to £30 a ticket.

Tickets for a ringside seat at the MGM grand have reportedly been changing hands for hundreds of thousands of dollars apiece. The fight is widely expected to be the most lucrative in boxing’s history.

Boycott calls

While much US sports media coverage has centred on the hype surrounding the fight, or on whether Pacquiao’s blistering handspeed will be enough to get through Mayweather’s defences, some influential commentators are calling for fans to ignore it, given Mayweather’s unsavoury personal history.

ESPN2 anchor Keith Olbermann has said: “The choices are about where we as sports fans, where we as human beings, draw the line about domestic violence in this country.

“I will not promote, watch nor report on Mayweather’s fight. I will boycott it, and I urge you to as well.”

A popular piece in the Chicago Tribune calls for sports fans to stay away and give what they would have spent on a pay-to-view ticket to a women’s refuge instead.

The author, Shannon Ryan, told Channel 4 News: “I’ve heard from many readers, mainly men, who told me they were unaware of Mayweather’s domestic violence record and would now boycott the fight.

“Many told me they planned to donate to Deborah’s Place or another organization that helps women. Deborah’s Place let me know that they’ve received quite a few donations following the column.

“However, I’m not under the illusion that there will be a massive boycott of the Mayweather fight. It’s scheduled to draw 3 million tuning in. My hope was to make some people educate themselves not only on Mayweather but how our society views domestic violence.

“Sports fans were irate after a video surfaced of NFL running back Ray Rice punching his wife in an elevator but there’s no such fury from fans about Mayweather. It’s more common that we let men like Mayweather off the hook in terms of public perception than hold them accountable.”

‘They do not take domestic violence seriously’

Women’s Aid, a UK charity that has campaigned for sports fans to do more to tackle domestic violence (their film Unpunished is aimed at football supporters ), told Channel 4 News boxing should not be glorifying Mayweather.

Chief executive Polly Neate said: “No sport should be hailing a convicted domestic violence perpetrator as a hero – especially one who has shown no remorse and even made excuses for his crime.

Until we are prepared to stand up to a culture that minimises domestic violence and rates violence against women as far less important than the interests of sport, we will never see the fundamental cultural change that is needed to keep women safe. Polly Neate

“Until we are prepared to stand up to a culture that minimises domestic violence and rates violence against women as far less important than the interests of sport, we will never see the fundamental cultural change that is needed to keep women safe.

“It’s all too easy to turn a blind eye to violence against women.

“We question the responsibility of the television networks that are showing the fight this weekend; it sends out the message that they do not take domestic violence seriously, devaluing women and girls.”