10 Reasons Why You Need To Watch Mayweather Vs Pacquiao

Many of boxing’s biggest occasions, from the Ali-Frazier wars to Mike Tyson vs. Lennox Lewis, came with a little extra bite – quite literally in the case of Tyson-Lewis.

The sight of the two fighters and assorted entourage members becoming embroiled in an unseemly melee at the first press conference for their long-awaited 2002 bout is an example of bad blood at its most toxic, with Lewis emerging with a bite mark on his thigh courtesy of a deranged ‘Iron’ Mike.

There’s no question that a genuine grudge match comes with a little extra flavour, and Mayweather vs. Pacquiao certainly fits the bill. Mayweather, well aware of the correlation between public interest and ticket sales, has revelled in his role as pantomime villain over the last decade and his mudslinging in the direction of the Pacquiao camp has been particularly distasteful.

This fight could have – perhaps should have – happened a long time ago and would have were it not for Mayweather’s persistent, base and baseless accusations that Pacquiao’s rise through the ranks and weight divisions was made possible by performance-enhancing drugs. In 2010, ‘Money’ posted a profanity-laden video on social media that included racist and homophobic slurs and prompted a defamation lawsuit from Pacquiao.

The recent buildup may have been curiously low-key but there’s an edge to this fight that is both unmistakable and genuine.