It’s not the first time I’ve dreamt about the sweet science
and definitely won’t be the last.
The dream began at the finishing stages of the co-main event
between Luis Collazo and Amir Khan. It
was the final seconds of round seven and Khan’s face was bludgeoned with blood
descending from his left eye.
I was sitting ringside in between the late Bert Sugar and
the menacing Mike Tyson. The sound of
the crowd was mere background music to Adrien Broner seated behind me and
chomping his gum in my ear. I’m guessing
he defeated Carlos Molina with ease based on his kool-aid smile and unscathed
face.
At the beginning of round eight, Collazo landed a counter
left hand that ended Amir Khan’s night!
Sugar leaned towards me and uttered “Didn’t see that coming.”
Iron Mike responded “That’s cuz you don’t know shit about
boxing Bert.”
Immediately, Floyd “Money” Mayweather was in the middle of
the ring staring daggers in the eyes of Marcos “El Chino” Maidana! The crowd was intense, throwing cheers of
“Chino-Chino-Chino” Maidana’s way.
The opening bell rang and Floyd shuffled to the middle of
the ring looking to get his punches off first.
Bert lit a cigar and Tyson studied intently as Mayweather looked focused
on getting his pound of flesh. He
continuously beat Maidana to the punch and the crowd began to swing from
anxious to concession.
“He’s just too damn good” said Bert. “Maidana won’t win a
single round.”
Towards the end of the round, Floyd appeared to hurt Maidana
with a beautifully timed right hand that left the Argentine star reeling to the
ropes. Floyd abruptly jumped towards him
looking to possibly finish him.
“Maidana better get his ass now! Here’s his chance!” shouted
Mike.
And just like that… El Chino caught Floyd momentarily defenseless
and landed a chopping right hand that buckled the pound-for-pound king right
before the sound of the bell! The crowd was back and threatening the decibel
levels of a Beatles concert as Floyd stumbled back to his corner!
The next three rounds saw Floyd as defensive and smart as
ever… pop shotting Marcos… landing one
punch at a time and before Maidana could even think about responding… Floyd was
gone.
“Now this is what I expected… this is the Floyd I know”
suggested Bert. “You can’t hit ‘em..
it’s child’s play!”
In round five, something clicked in Maidana’s head. He immediately jumped off his stool and
rushed Floyd without throwing any punches.
Floyd attempted to use the ring, but every time he would elude him,
Marcos would cut the ring off, hold and pound Floyd to the body and head.
“Interesting tactic” said Bert. “What the hell’s he doing Mike?”
“He’s making it an ugly fight” replied Tyson. “Undeniably brilliant... shoulda fought this
way from the start!”
I sat there and watched as Marcos Maidana gave away the next
three rounds by literally only throwing punches during clinches. But I noticed Floyd wearing down. The crowd wasn’t sure whether to boo or to cheer. It was an odd exhibition of boxing, but
effective nonetheless.
By the time the bell rang for round nine, the crowd was anxious…
and so was Marcos Maidana. He jumped off
his stool, almost like he was rejuvenated and instantly started wailing away at
Floyd’s body. Mayweather used the little
bit of energy he had left to elude some of the attack, but now Marcos was
landing punches no fighter has been able to land on Floyd for years!
Floyd was fighting back. He had no choice! Landing clean
double right hands and still slipping a good number of punches. But Maidana was relentless! It’s like he was
a shark sensing blood!
“Damn he reminds me of a young me!” suggested Tyson.
Then the moment happened….
“Uh oh” Bert said calmly.
As Floyd leaned back using the infamous shoulder to avoid a
Maidana left hook, he countered with his
patented right hand, only to be crushed by an overhand right that he never saw
coming. The entire crowd went completely
silent… and just for a second, time froze.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. crashed to floor, colliding with the
canvas with a simultaneous roar from the crowd!
Referee Tony Weeks didn’t even attempt a count as he
immediately waved the fight off. That
was it! It was over! The king of boxing was no more! It was the most amazing
moment in boxing I’ve ever experienced!
After the fighters, media and entire crowd left the MGM
Grand including Mike Tyson, all that was left was me and Bert Sugar.
Bert leaned over and offered me a cigar.
“Here ya go young fella” he said convincingly. “Don’t ever take a fight for granted… you can
never predict a moment.”
And then I woke up….
On Saturday, May 3rd at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas , the odds of
Floyd Mayweather Jr. tasting defeat are not probable… but for just “A Moment”
that minute opening of possibility is the reason we watch… and I’ll never take that for granted.
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