Why Did You Watch The Mayweather-Pacquiao Fight?

I didn't watch the fight for so many reasons.  None of them have anything to do with not liking boxing, which I don't.  I didn't watch the fight because of the ethics and character, and lack of morality of the fighters involved.  Recently atheletes have been in the news much too often for their misbehavior.  Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson are the two that come immediately to mind.   They were not only reprimanded by their teams and the public, but they were punished financially.  If and when they do play again, they will be watched carefully, and if they do anything like what they did recently, they will probably be barred from the game.  Not so with Floyd Mayweather.

Floyd Mayweather is a serial abuser.  He has had seven assaults against five women that resulted in arrest.  In addition, the police have been called to his house a total of 21 times for domestic battery.  In plea agreements with prosecutors, Mayweather got a suspended six -month jail sentence, a $3,000 fine, 48 hours of community service and two days of house arrest for allegedly stiking the mother of one of his children in the face with a car door and punching her several times in the face.  In another Las Vegas nightclub incident, he was found guilty on two counts of domestic battery and given a suspended six month prison sentence.  Questioned by CNN reporter Rachel Nichols last year about his abusive behavior, Mayweather showed little remorse.  He noted that there were "no pictures."  What I find astonishing is that the public overlooks his violent behavior outside the ring.

Like Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao grew up in poverty.  They both have a similar story in that respect.  They can both be admired for reaching the pinnacle of their sport after enduring a childhood of poverty.  Pacuiao even became a politician.  In many ways, his influence is more far reaching than Mayweather's, even though he lost the fight.  His ideas on women and marriage are not in line with mine he does have a right to think the way he does.  He has fought in the Philippine parliament against legislation that would mandate  sex education, subsidize contraception, and expand family planning.  He believes in no birth control and is against gay marriage.  Again, he has a right to his ideas, but I don't have to watch him fight contribute to his income.  The fact of the matter is that he owes $75 million in taxes, between the IRS and the Philippine tax authorities.  So this fight he just lost paid off his debts and then some.

The question for me is "Why do Americans overlook the violent behavior of Floyd Mayweather, yet come down hard on other athletes?  I strongly believe that athletes and actors, and others in the public eye, have a great responsibility to their public.  Young boys and girls are watching them, watching their example.  They want to be like them.  Do we want our young boys thinking that Mayweather's behavior is OK?  I don't, and for that reason I didn't watch the fight.  I don't want to put money in the pocket of a serial abuser.  That's my rant for today.