By Austin Hutchinson

It was Saturday night.

 

Floyd Mayweather Jr. vs. Manny Pacquiao.

 

The “Fight of the century.”

 

$100 on pay per view.

 

Both men knew this fight was way overdue. But, because of their fame as great boxers is already engraved in pen, they finally gave way to every boxing fan’s yearning.

 

As we watch the fight go through the final round and Mayweather come out as the  winner, we find out there is only one question to be asked. Can it get any better than this?

 

After waking up Sunday morning and reading the sports headlines, the one on ESPN saying Pacquiao was fighting hurt, the real burning question I asked myself, and the only question in my mind, is “Can it get any worse than this?”

 

To begin, I have to say I’m not a huge boxing guy. I’ll pay attention to the big fights and I know all the big names and their stories, but past that I’m stepping into unknown territory.

 

So when I first heard about the fight, I thought, “Cool – I’m sure all my friends will be super excited! After all, they’ve been waiting for years. Manny vs. Floyd, wow!”

 

I waited months for this weekend. You know, the one that promised Marvel’s Age of Ultron, The Kentucky Derby, the Mayweather/Pacquiao fight, and the Red Sox and Yankees squaring off on the diamond.

 

After all these fine events occurred, and I settled down Saturday night, snuggled under my covers and fell asleep soundly knowing all was well in a great day of sports.

 

I woke up Sunday morning, grabbed some coffee and checked out the ticker on ESPN.

 

“Manny Pacquiao fought with Injured Shoulder, Was Denied Shot in Locker Room.”(espn.com)

 

At this point I’m beyond agitated. After losing the fight, this is the claptrap your camp releases? I’m not saying he wasn’t hurt. I mean, he had a torn rotator cuff.

 

So then I started to think about it – Either way, the news would come out that Pacquiao played with a hurt shoulder. Whether or not he took meds, whether or not they moved the fight back, the whole world would find out.

 

When Pacquiao’s camp released the injury news this morning, it created an empathy for Pacquiao, something that we shouldn’t have after he lost a fight.

 

Now lets say Pacquiao beat Mayweather. Then the news would of come out that Pacquiao beat Mayweather with a hurt shoulder. We all would have felt terrible for Pacquiao and then we would naturally think Pacquiao much more than Mayweather. This would benefit Pacquiao beyond.

 

Now lets say they moved the fight back. Sure, everyone would be upset. But I’m sure Jay-Z and Justin Bieber could fit it into their schedules. But after the fight, necessitating whether or not Pacquiao won, we would all feel the fight was tainted by Pacquiao injury.

 

If he won, people would sing the praises of Pacquiao.

 

How he’s such a superior boxer that he could beat Mayweather injured.Imagine- if he lost, we all would have kicked and screamed, saying that Pacquiao’s injury was the reason that he lost.

 

And this brings me to my final point. Manny Pacquiao, you knew you were injured. If you wanted, you could have moved back the fight like an honorable man who really cared about winning the fight would have. And you also knew that the end of this fight this news of your injury would be released and the people would empathize with you either way.

 

Knowing this, Pacquiao, this proves to me that you deserved to lose this fight. A man who fights to win would have kept this as quiet as possible or would have canceled the fight altogether. You have proved, that you are soft and selfish.

 

And no, I’m not saying that Floyd is a great guy either. I mean, he’s best buddies with Justin Bieber. I got to to give him some slack for that.

 

Pacquiao, you might have a great punch, but you sure punched out my gut with this news of your injury Sunday morning. A man with honor would’ve not come out with this news in the way you did.

 

After all, did you not say yourself, Manny Pacquiao, “Boxing is not about your feelings, It’s about performance.”

 

You’re performance wasn’t satisfactory, so you had to mess with our feelings with how you handled yourself. Great Guy, Pacquiao, great guy. For a lack of a better a word, you are a loser.