Fighting chance

Instead of covering a sporting event on a Saturday night, I took one in albeit on television. I watched the Oscar De la Hoya-Floyd Mayweather fight last night. I wasn't inebriated like I thought I would be so I was able to focus on the fight and actually remember it this morning.

I've never covered boxing before. I've only covered NHL and Arena Football aside from soccer as far as professional sports go. So I'm not proclaiming to be an expert on the sweet science. I didn't agree with the split decision that gave Mayweather the win.

De la Hoya was clearly the aggressor throughout the fight and had Mayweather backing up and fighting defensively throughout. Now again, I don't follow boxing as much as I do soccer so I don't really know Mayweather's style. But I thought that Oscar's aggressiveness should have won him the fight. Still, stats don't lie and Mayweather landed more punches than De la Hoya.

In some ways, boxing is like soccer. So many things go into a fight or a game that don't show up on the scorecard or scoreboard. Aggressive fighting, defensive tactics, quick jabs, overlapping runs... everything that makes each sport a joy to watch really.

But there is one major difference between soccer and boxing. In boxing, judges' decisions leave a lot of room for argument and discussion and disagreement. In soccer, there is no denying the final score, and fans might feel like their team got robbed or injustice was done but the scoreboard is unflinching in its final verdict.