The HBO documentary "At Last", is a damn joke.

The Mongoose · Apr 21, 2015

ellerbe said: ↑

I was enjoying this documentary until they started slandering Floyd, and portrayed him like some kind of monster since he left HBO. What a waste of a potentially great documentary.
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But doesn't Floyd claim to intentionally play a villian? I'm sure he was happy with it.

GOW7 · Apr 21, 2015

masterold said: ↑

Like Mayweather, Pacquiaos dirty history is a mixture of personal failures amplified by the power that comes with wealth and celebrity. He has spoken out against gay marriage, insisting he has gay relatives but still opposes same-*** marriage because, Its the law of God, was a mostly absent congressman in his home country last year, and didnt step in when a basketball player in the Philippines was fired for stating the obviousthat the 5-foot-7 Pacquiaos basketball career was a stunt and a joke. His concerns about the laws of God apparently didnt conflict with allegedly mauling a fellow politician or cheating on his wife. The Phillippine government says he owes tens of millions in back taxes. And should you try to take comfort in thinking that perhaps Pacquiao at least respects women more than Mayweather does, remember that he fought against legislation in the Philippines that would mandate *** education, subsidize contraception, and expand family-planning offerings. And he is not just some random celebrity with a platform; hes a politician who actively affects policy. Thats objectively more harmful than the usual powerless bigot-athlete.

Freddie Roach wants you to forget all that. Given his mans cut of the PPV pot, hes literally banking on it.

The longtime trainer fed mindlessly scribbling reporters their talking points, and theyve dutifully repeated them. USA Today is just one example, in a piece under the all-knowing headline. Pacquiao fueled by Mayweathers domestic abuse.

Manny is really against domestic violence, Roach said. It is a big issue maybe in the Philippines for him and being a congressman he can control some of that stuff. That is a big plus for me that Manny does not like the guy, I think the killer instinct is going to come back a lot faster. ...

(I see the fight as) good against evil, yes. I have even thought about bringing a couple of the metro cops from Vegas in to tell Manny how many times (Mayweather) has been arrested and how bad of a guy he is, but I decided I cant go that far. He already doesnt like him; I think we are OK.
The article doesnt say what, if anything, Pacquiao has done or might do back in the Philippines to prevent domestic violence. Hell, it doesnt even quote Pacquiao himself. This is pure, cynical salesmanship from Roach, who worked with post-prison Mike Tyson, a convicted ****** whose victim testified that the boxer laughed about the assault while she cried.

Then theres Rolling Stone, which portrays Roach utilizing Mayweathers badness as a training tool:

But with Mayweather, Roach can work Mannys natural antipathy: Hes a bad guy, hell whisper into Pacquiaos ear sometimes. Hes bad for boxing. Youll be doing a courtesy to the world if you knock him out.

He knows hes a bad person, Roach says.
At least reporter Michael Weinreb actually asked Pacquiao about his feelings toward Mayweather, though he got an answer oblique to Roachs straightforward trope-usage. Usually I dont comment on his personal life, Pacquiao tells Weinreb. Perhaps thats true; its also a convenient way of outsourcing the media manipulation while keeping his hands clean.

Even older than leaving the hype to the hype men is the urge to package a fight in biblical terms, good vs. evil, the bad boy vs. the avenging angel, the evil woman-beater versus the defender of all. To see exactly how much stock to put into these roles, recall Mayweathers 2001 bout with Diego Corrales, who had been charged with assaulting his pregnant wife. Leading up to the fight, Mayweather declared he would beat Corrales for every battered woman in the world. Mayweather won and went on to be arrested multiple times on charges that he violently battered the women in his life. Virtue is fungible.

Which leaves us here, three weeks from the biggest fight of the young century. There are plenty of reasons, based purely on whats likely to happen inside the ring, to avoid the fight. But sports is never just about the act itself. Its about the the storylines, the unknown, the unexpected, the sides we choose, and what those choices say about us. We do define ourselves by the team or the athlete we back. And in this case, we have no comfortable choices.

Sure this all can be categorized and ****yzed until the lesser evil is identified to our satisfaction. Whats worse, beating up women or trying to make it harder for millions of them to get birth control? Do you mind less the absent politician or the abusive father? Which is easier to tolerate, a man who leveraged his fame and fortune for favors across the Philippines or a man who leveraged his fame and fortune for favors across the United States? Athletes are human; they exist on the same ethical continuum as the rest of us, stretching from saints to sinners with a long, murky middle where most reside. It should be enough to sell this fight that Mayweather and Pacquiao are the two best boxers of their generation. But dont let the appeal to morality confuse you: thats all theyre good for.
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Non biased view of both fighters. Doubt anyone takes the time to read something logical. Nice read though.

speedsterchris · Apr 21, 2015

Very well made documentary, but very bias toward Pac and I am not at the very least surprised. After all, HBO is with Pac. I also wouldn't be surprised if showtime was completely biased toward Money May.

divac · Apr 21, 2015

HBO has always been agenda driven, anything in any of their programming should be taken with a grain of salt.

CubanLinx · Apr 25, 2015

I jut saw Episode 2 from Showtime "Inside Mayweather vs Pacquiao", and it just cannot compare to HBO's version. Even the last three minutes alone of "At last" is far superior to anything I saw from Showtime. HBO did an outstanding job and made the upcoming fight even more epic. Nobody can watch that and not get hyped.

Beast-Mode · Apr 25, 2015

CST80 said: ↑

Well he did kind of F**k over HBO who pretty much made him their marquee star and put him on the map, I could see how they'd have a degree of animosity him going to the one and only competitor and all.
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STFU! HBO made Floyd like the NBA made Michael Jordan. Let's just completely ignore the work these athletes put in to get where they are at today. You ignorant uninformed ******* sucking waste of space.

Contracts end. To the highest bidder goes the spoils. This is business.

rayrobinson · Apr 25, 2015

ellerbe said: ↑

I was enjoying this documentary until they started slandering Floyd, and portrayed him like some kind of monster since he left HBO. What a waste of a potentially great documentary.
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Im really not sure what you were watching, I appreciate both fighters and enjoyed the hour.

Yes Manny is their A side so I dont have a problem with him getting more air time, but at no stage did they portray Floyd as this 'monster' you say.

They did however put a few records straight , which I dont have a problem with , and I dont think any boxing fan should.

Enjoy the fight.

peace.

BeastsideBoxing · Apr 25, 2015

It was great ,true biased towards Pacquiao but still the story telling was a piece of art. The music, the humor, the angles of the camera, the narration. HBO are the best. Mayweather is no saint, and most of what is said is true.
So much butthurt in here.

schooling · Apr 25, 2015

The ending got me so pumped

Leonit · Apr 25, 2015

Well lots of folks on this board were saying that it was a master piece worth of grammy award or something. Then I watched it and for once it was the same old **** from 24/7 but very very concentrated on Pac. Pac was described as the rags to reaches hero savior of his people and so on. 80% of the series was about him ,which for a neutral fan like me was rather annoying. They prolly also gave a slightly distorted image of Floyd but honestly Floyd created the Money May persona and it's working in his favor.

Leonit · Apr 25, 2015

masterold said: ↑

Like Mayweather, Pacquiaos dirty history is a mixture of personal failures amplified by the power that comes with wealth and celebrity. He has spoken out against gay marriage, insisting he has gay relatives but still opposes same-*** marriage because, Its the law of God, was a mostly absent congressman in his home country last year, and didnt step in when a basketball player in the Philippines was fired for stating the obviousthat the 5-foot-7 Pacquiaos basketball career was a stunt and a joke. His concerns about the laws of God apparently didnt conflict with allegedly mauling a fellow politician or cheating on his wife. The Phillippine government says he owes tens of millions in back taxes. And should you try to take comfort in thinking that perhaps Pacquiao at least respects women more than Mayweather does, remember that he fought against legislation in the Philippines that would mandate *** education, subsidize contraception, and expand family-planning offerings. And he is not just some random celebrity with a platform; hes a politician who actively affects policy. Thats objectively more harmful than the usual powerless bigot-athlete.

Freddie Roach wants you to forget all that. Given his mans cut of the PPV pot, hes literally banking on it.

The longtime trainer fed mindlessly scribbling reporters their talking points, and theyve dutifully repeated them. USA Today is just one example, in a piece under the all-knowing headline. Pacquiao fueled by Mayweathers domestic abuse.

Manny is really against domestic violence, Roach said. It is a big issue maybe in the Philippines for him and being a congressman he can control some of that stuff. That is a big plus for me that Manny does not like the guy, I think the killer instinct is going to come back a lot faster. ...

(I see the fight as) good against evil, yes. I have even thought about bringing a couple of the metro cops from Vegas in to tell Manny how many times (Mayweather) has been arrested and how bad of a guy he is, but I decided I cant go that far. He already doesnt like him; I think we are OK.
The article doesnt say what, if anything, Pacquiao has done or might do back in the Philippines to prevent domestic violence. Hell, it doesnt even quote Pacquiao himself. This is pure, cynical salesmanship from Roach, who worked with post-prison Mike Tyson, a convicted ****** whose victim testified that the boxer laughed about the assault while she cried.

Then theres Rolling Stone, which portrays Roach utilizing Mayweathers badness as a training tool:

But with Mayweather, Roach can work Mannys natural antipathy: Hes a bad guy, hell whisper into Pacquiaos ear sometimes. Hes bad for boxing. Youll be doing a courtesy to the world if you knock him out.

He knows hes a bad person, Roach says.
At least reporter Michael Weinreb actually asked Pacquiao about his feelings toward Mayweather, though he got an answer oblique to Roachs straightforward trope-usage. Usually I dont comment on his personal life, Pacquiao tells Weinreb. Perhaps thats true; its also a convenient way of outsourcing the media manipulation while keeping his hands clean.

Even older than leaving the hype to the hype men is the urge to package a fight in biblical terms, good vs. evil, the bad boy vs. the avenging angel, the evil woman-beater versus the defender of all. To see exactly how much stock to put into these roles, recall Mayweathers 2001 bout with Diego Corrales, who had been charged with assaulting his pregnant wife. Leading up to the fight, Mayweather declared he would beat Corrales for every battered woman in the world. Mayweather won and went on to be arrested multiple times on charges that he violently battered the women in his life. Virtue is fungible.

Which leaves us here, three weeks from the biggest fight of the young century. There are plenty of reasons, based purely on whats likely to happen inside the ring, to avoid the fight. But sports is never just about the act itself. Its about the the storylines, the unknown, the unexpected, the sides we choose, and what those choices say about us. We do define ourselves by the team or the athlete we back. And in this case, we have no comfortable choices.

Sure this all can be categorized and ****yzed until the lesser evil is identified to our satisfaction. Whats worse, beating up women or trying to make it harder for millions of them to get birth control? Do you mind less the absent politician or the abusive father? Which is easier to tolerate, a man who leveraged his fame and fortune for favors across the Philippines or a man who leveraged his fame and fortune for favors across the United States? Athletes are human; they exist on the same ethical continuum as the rest of us, stretching from saints to sinners with a long, murky middle where most reside. It should be enough to sell this fight that Mayweather and Pacquiao are the two best boxers of their generation. But dont let the appeal to morality confuse you: thats all theyre good for.
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One of the best posts I've red on this board. It's really well written, non-biased and give some interesting food for thought. I agree with you that the good and bad side in this fight is completely subjective and created by the networks, the managers and the fighters themselves in order to better sell the fight. I also agree that there are many reasons not to watch the fight from sports and human perspective. The fight as it is promoted is a massive insult the the core boxing community from fans to the journalists that cover the sport.

pacman24 · Apr 25, 2015

Jesus said: ↑

Exactly, Mayweather fans are in denial of the level of scumbag that he is. You dont get to make fun of the Phillipines and then throw the race card on an ESPN interview. Dude is a joke like his fans, but in all honesty the majority of his fans are only graduating from using crayons and coloring books.
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excellent post.

pacman24 · Apr 25, 2015

at least this program showed both fighters. showtime didn't show pac once.

Ilesey · Apr 25, 2015

Why don't you cry about it?

ElCyclon · Apr 25, 2015

Pac comes off borderline re****ed at times but his story is definitely more interesting than FLoyd's and he's easier to root for.

THey had to pick a bad guy for dramatic purposes and in this case Floyd is more fitting of that role.

The heart-tugging music was cringe-worthy and ending the show with Etta Jame's At Last was so predictable.

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The HBO documentary "At Last", is a damn joke.

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