The insatiable thirst for a top-notch boxing card is just hours away from being quenched, when eyes fixate on the MGM Grand in Las Vegas for Saturday night's bout between Floyd Mayweather and Saul "Canelo" Alvarez.
Perhaps the most anticipated prizefight in more than a half-decade, Mayweather and Alvarez completed their final pre-fight requirement Friday: the weigh-in.
Before a capacity crowd of over 12,000 fans in Vegas—the organizers opened up the entire MGM Grand room for the event, instead of having it partially opened as usual—the two fighters gave the crowd exactly what they wanted.
There was Mayweather taunting. There was Alvarez showing no signs of intimidation. There was even a smile from both men, letting us all know they're in on the joke. Most importantly, there were two fighters who came in under the 152-pound catchweight.
Now, all that's left is for fight fans are three options: spend time with your family, exercise and commit to a better diet, or sit on your hands to the point of numbness until the fight.
Since I'm assuming we've all chosen to do the latter together, it's probably best to spend time discussing the fight until then.
Bovada currently has Mayweather as a -280 favorite to win the fight, meaning you have to bet $280 to win $100. Alvarez comes in at the expected +220, giving you better than 2/1 odds if you bet right now.
As is always the case before anticipated sporting events, plenty of notable folks have flocked to media—both traditional and social—to give their opinions.
Everyone from noted fighting legends, to respected boxing experts to even some legendary trainers have come out and shown their support.
But, you know what? Who cares? We here in the United States have not the time for tomfoolery of reading about what people who might actually know what they're talking about think.
You know what the people want? Celebrity thoughts.
And you're in luck. Taking a look around the interwebs, I was able to cobble together some thoughts from society's most notable and put them here for you to peruse.
Magic Johnson Will Be There, Has Better Life Than All of Us
If you learn anything over the course of your time on the big blue marble, learn this: Magic Johnson leads a blessed life.
Not only has he been among the five greatest basketball players in history, bought eleventy billion Starbucks franchises before the chain became a staple in our lives and parlayed his celebrity into multiple other business ventures, he's also a television personality. And an HIV activist. And an owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers. And friends with President Obama.
The man has more fun napping than we do on the best day of our lives. So it should be no surprise that Magic, while not making a selection for the bout, called Mayweather-Alvarez the "fight of the year" and promised to be in attendance:
Still no word on who the Lakers great will wind up betting on Saturday night. But if someone gets word from the Lakers legend, just go with whatever he says. The guy has a pretty good track record on making investments.
Mike Tyson Goes With Floyd
It should be no surprise at this point when Iron Mike attaches his name in some way or another to a major fight. Now eight years into his post-boxing career, Tyson has become a tour-de-force of self-promotion.
He appeared in the first two Hangover movies, started his own one-man show on Broadway and even started his own promotions company. All throughout those business endeavors, Tyson has given countless interviews and developed a massive following on social media.
And he's (thankfully) never stopped being Tyson. The answers he gives are often long, rambling and full of Tysonisms, but Iron Mike's penchant for showmanship hasn't stopped one bit.
When asked by Newsday who he'd thought would win on Saturday night, it was kind of disappointing for him to give a completely cogent reason for his pick of Mayweather:
I've only seen Canelo fight twice—against [Joselito] Lopez and [Austin] Trout. Trout gave him some trouble and he isn't as experienced and as technically skilled as Floyd is. Floyd stays in tip-top shape and is a very relaxed fighter. He is at his peak. It's going to be hard for anybody to beat Floyd now unless he doesn't train. Floyd has transcended the game so much that the best fighters out there now try to emulate his style. Floyd wins by a decision.
This isn't the first time Tyson has expressed his admiration for Money May. He appeared on a July edition of ESPN2's Friday Night Fights and called Mayweather the best fighter of his time, citing the 36-year-old American's versatility in the ring.
While that opinion is up for some debate, Tyson's selection of Mayweather definitely stays within the majority.
Justin Bieber Will Be in Floyd's Corner; Michelle Beadle Not a Swaggy Adult
They say celebrity is like a fraternity. Once you're in, you're in for live. Only your brothers (or sisters) in arms know what you go through on a day-to-day basis, and it becomes increasingly hard to make friends from the "outside" as your status grows.
That's how strange celebrity friendships get foraged.
Who knows better than Snoop Dogg to teach BFF David Beckham how to be retired, seeing as Snoop has been retired from making good music for about a decade now (sorry)?
And what about Mel Gibson and Britney Spears sitting down and discussing...whatever the hell Britney Spears and Mel Gibson would discuss?
Among said strange celebrity pairings is Justin Bieber and Mayweather. Outside of being filthy, filthy rich, it's hard to see what these two would have in common. But Bieber was on the Money Team for Mayweather's win over Robert Guerrero and Black Sports Online reported that he'll be there again Saturday.
Well, it seems that was enough for NBC's Michelle Beadle to punch her (and the world's) ticket for Canelo:
Now, I may be stepping out on a limb here to say that the Bieber-Mayweather personality combo might have swayed Beadle with her pick a bit. Neither guy is what you would call the most humble person on the planet.
Then again, if Floyd comes waltzing down to the ring with "One Less Lonely Girl" blasting from the speakers, perhaps some past transgressions could be forgiven. Just a thought.
Austin Rivers Likes the Older Fighter and Manning Brother
Things are starting to look up for New Orleans Pelicans guard Austin Rivers.
The former Duke standout had by all accounts one of the worst rookie seasons in NBA history last season, where he finished 343rd out of 344 eligible players in player efficiency rating. He saw his minutes get slashed dramatically as the season went along, before an injury prematurely ended the campaign.
But this summer has been filled with some promise.
Rivers looked like a completely different player during the NBA's Las Vegas Summer League, averaging 18.2 points per game while playing solid defense and flashing an improved jumper.
Could Rivers add weekend event prognosticator to his list? We'll find out.
The 21-year-old guard went through and made predictions for each of the weekend's three biggest events in one fell swoop, taking Mayweather, the Denver Broncos over the New York Giants and Texas A&M over top-ranked Alabama:
To be fair, Rivers also uses his Twitter account to post Vines like this:
No, I haven't figured out what that was yet, either. Let's just move on and hope that Rivers' predictions come true and he comes through with a solid second season with New Orleans. Otherwise, we might have to break it to him that his second career choice as a choreographer might not work out.
It's Undeniable...That Brian McKnight Is Picking Floyd Mayweather
Does Brian McKnight ever cross your mind, anytime? Do you ever wake up reaching out...for your iPad to figure out what he's doing nowadays?
Don't worry, he's OK. While not the megastar he was back when he was running the R&B game and creating wedding songs for an entire generation in the 1990s, McKnight is alive, well and still churning out music.
The Grammy-winning artist released his latest album, More Than Words, earlier this year and reached some Internet notoriety last year with the release of a song that, well, we can't really link to on here. But you know what it is.
As for what he does when he's not telling us what love is, McKnight is apparently a pretty big boxing fan.
While other celebrity opinions usually come simply from our natural psychological state of having to answer a question when asked, McKnight went into the film room before giving his pick.
After watching Canelo's last fight against Austin Trout, the 44-year-old singer still picked Mayweather but indicated that it should be a close fight:
If McKnight's prediction proves correct, it will be a crushing blow for Canelo. Here he put in all this time in training and believed his work was done, then he'll have to start back at (square) one.
Sorry.
Enjoy the fight, folks.
Follow Tyler Conway on Twitter.
Read more Boxing news on BleacherReport.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment