Floyd, Oscar, and the Two Daves

Thanks to my good friend, Dave Winters, I had the opportunity to watch the much hyped, heavily anticipated squared circle showdown between Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr. My interest in the combat sport of MMA brings me into repeated contact with the more storied sport of boxing, and I find myself more than a little hungry to deepen my understanding of the "sweet science." And any hungry novice should have a quality guru to steer his education- someone who is better versed than oneself in some field, craft, or hobby who is willing to impart some of what he or she has in ample quantity. As of the last couple of months, Dave is my boxing guru, and I his novice.

A truly healthy novice-guru relationship requires not only mutuality of interest, but common affinity of spirit. The novice must be humble and receptive. The guru must not be proud or condescending. The novice needn't feel inferior for seeking guidance in one area of life because, while one may be a novice in one aspect, one may be a guru in another aspect of comparable importance. Thus, while Dave Winters is my boxing guru, and Aaron Homoya is my beer guru, I tend to be the guru of mixed marital arts within my circle of friends (hence the frequents posts on the subject). I enjoy this interlinking of novice-guru relationships because it exemplifies concretely in my life the spirit of community I have heard praised as an abstract ideal in my theological studies. When you're humble enough to bow to the expertise of your friends, they'll be more inclined to acknowledge your own authority when you brings insights from your own area(s) of expertise to the table, and vice versa.

So there I am, sitting on a black leather couch in Broad Ripple, drinking Smithwick's for the first time and watching the most anticipated boxing match in years alongside my own personal professor of pugilism. He gives me a heads up on De La Hoya's championship history, the Philly Shell, and why Floyd Mayweather Sr. can't form a coherent sentence. HBO's countdown show is most helpful and informative, but Dave's commentary further supplements and enriches my personal preparation for the fight. His enthusiasm and knowledgeability reaffirms for me that boxing is a worthwhile sport to invest oneself in and, inherent to its constitution, boxing mirrors MMA's ability to hold beauty and violence together in a tension that is both entertaining and enriching for its fans. Dave enjoys MMA as well, but his love for boxing is more true and runs deeper. And that makes him a good guru for me. He has the requisite expertise in his area, while having a genuine appreciation for and respectable knowlege base in my mine. (I must confess that his knowledge of MMA far surpasses my present knowledge of boxing.)

The amicable character of our fellowship last night goes against the grain of a commonly held perception propogated by the media. Going into the Mayweather-De La Hoya bout, a prominent storyline invovled the importance of this event for the present state of boxing. This fight has drawn the attention of mainstream sports media and the causual fan in a way that few fights have in recent years. Boxing has been on the decline, especially among folks in that coveted 18-35 demographic. In the past two years, these people have been getting their combat fix from the new kid on the block, Mixed Martial Arts, more specifically the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

Under the perceived threat that MMA is cutting into the audience and profits of boxing, many of boxing's prominent figures have taken it upon themselves to defend their sport by berating its relatively new competitor. HBO boxing commentator Jim Lampley is one of MMA's most vocal and vehement opponents.
(I've commented on him before. https://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=34647227&postID=115915189084971417)

Certain key voices in MMA, like UFC President Dana White, have been equally confrontation in responding when disparaging comments are made about the new breed of fighters and the legitimacy of their craft. Fans on both sides have followed suit, flooding message boards with heated posts that exemplify an either/or mentality. As Dave Winters frequents the boxing forums, and Dave Scott lurks on MMA chatrooms, we have found that too few contributors who see through the hype created by figure heads pushing their respective products and instead adovocate a relationship of mutual appreciation between the representatives of both combat sports.

Mayweather himself raised the ire of Dana White in the weeks leading up to last night's event, only to retract his statements at the post-fight press conference.
http://www.fightnews.com/boxing/bc/perea100.htm
(Skip to the last 3 paragraphs of the article for the relevant quotations.)

Lampley, on the other hand, maintained his previous position during his post-fight analysis, even if it was more diplomatically expressed. Fortunately, the comments Max Kellerman made on the broadcast soon thereafter counterbalanced Lampley's more biased claims.
http://www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=3897&zoneid=13


At night's end, I enjoyed watching the PPV. All three televised fights went to a decision but the first fight was an exciting featherweight battle and the main event held my interest the entire fights. Far from a flashy slugfest or grudge match shootout, Mayweather vs. De La Hoya played out as a battle of wills where the winner turned out to be the one who executed his gameplan must effectively in the eyes of the judges. I don't think a fight has to be a barnburner to be compelling, and for at least the first 9 rounds last night, this bout was certainly compelling. It would have been even more exciting if Oscar could have gone for a rolling kneebar at some point. :)

All in all, it was a good night of fun with my guru. Dave, if your reading this, I'd gladly watch the next PPV you order up.