Is Mayweather that big a deal?

Scott Christ has a cogent response to my post for The Atlantic:

I have a few issues with this. First of all, Mayweather’s fight with Oscar de la Hoya was, like it or not, “bigger” than Tyson-Holyfield II, and so was Lewis-Tyson. Neither fight is as famous as Tyson-Holyfield II, but that came after the world got to see Tyson gnaw Holyfield’s ear, which led to increased fascination from those who didn’t see it live – or care to. But the gross curiosity in seeing one man bite a chunk out of another man’s ear shouldn’t count toward how big the fight really was. That’s what came after.

But to assign Floyd this level of importance is, in my opinion, buying into hype more than it is anything else. Mayweather, like every great and popular and famous and hated fighter before him, is replaceable. Mayweather is one fighter, and there is great demand for one fight. But it’s just one fight.

First, with regards to Mayweather-de la Hoya Scott is right if you’re judging the event in terms of Pay Per View buys or purses, but I was referring more to the average person on the street’s awareness of the event.

Floyd fighting the Golden Boy is actually one of the fights that eventually compelled me to get into boxing writing so I’m certainly appreciative of its impact, but Tyson-Holyfield was on the evening news regularly. Fascination = attention for the sport.

On the other point, to some extent he may be right that I’m buying into the hype. But I didn’t list Floyd as the sport’s top roadblock towards mainstream acceptance out of animosity. I would wager there are few boxing writers out there with more respect for his abilities then myself. I put him there because in my opinion he is the greatest boxer in the world and he seems barely interested in fighting.

Americans sports fans are smart and naturally suspicious of anything that doesn’t smell like the best possible product. That’s why Champions League games still pull higher ratings than MLS on ESPN. Fans don’t want to invest their time and energy into boxing if the top fighters are never going to take part in meaningful contests.

Unfortunately, no one exemplifies that trend at the moment more than Mayweather, who is beholden to no one and in complete control of his own destiny. I don’t think he’s a coward and until recently considered him one of the greatest showmen and marketers of the 21st century. Yes he is replaceable, but the tradition of boxing is that such a replacement take place inside the ring.

Aside from that Scott and I seem to be largely in agreement on the sport’s current status. We live in an era where even the evening news is struggling to find an audience, so maybe the real question worth asking is whether being mainstream means anything anymore.