Boxing

I don't know what came over me, but last night I watched Manny Pacquiao highlights. Man, he is good. He's obviously fast and fit and all that, but what surprised me was his power. For a guy his size, fighting up against larger opponents, watching highlights of De La Hoya who he just beat the shit out of...it got me thinking...boxing is a dying sport. MMA is killing boxing. But watching Pacquiao - can this guy alone bring the sport back? Can he make it interesting again? I'm not even a boxing fan. All my life boxing has been boring, except for the brief period of time when Tyson was kicking ass.

Mayweather is coming out of retirement to fight Pacquiao and will probably get his ass kicked. You know you're good when the guys you just beat are saying, "Man, that guy is good." And you know they mean it by their tone...when there is actual respect and reverence for the other person's ability vs. politeness. That is the tone from the Cotta, Hatton, and De La Hoya fights. Their reactions are - damn, he just beat me.

Pacquiao is going to be a good test case and can be applied to the movie industry. If he can bring boxing back to prominence again, it will be evidence to my theory that people are attracted to quality and the reasons industry die are not "natural causes" or too much competition or new technologies. Internet did not kill newspapers. Bad content killed newspapers. Likewise, TV and the Internet and DVDs and Blue Ray and Video Games, will not kill the movies. Bad content will kill the movies. Boring fighters are killing boxing. Pacquiao will bring it back.