Zimbabweans back Floyd

Daily News

May 3 2015

Electricity supply and rolling blackouts may be an issue in the early hours of Sunday — to an extent that it may “knock out” the Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather, and Manny ‘Pacman’ Pacquiao bout from our screens — but Zimbabweans are still looking forward to this epic contest.

From Environment minister Saviour Kasukuwere to the ordinary man in the street, Zimbabweans are joining the rest of the world to tune into ‘The Fight of the Century’ that is taking place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, United States.

While the two fighters are expected to share a $300 million purse, locals on premium satellite television are likely to be keenly following the 0300HRS bout on Sunday.

Kasukuwere, who was nicknamed ‘Tyson’ after the former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson, said he will be rooting for Mayweather.

“Everyone is aware of that fight and I’m one of the persons, who will wake up early in the morning to watch it,” the Zanu FP political commissar told the Daily News.

“There is no way I’ll support Pacquiao when he’s fighting against a black man. Mayweather is one of us (mwanawevhu), he’s from the motherland.

“Mayweather is going to finish that fight in the second round so we can go back to bed. He’s someone, who gets the job done and done quickly.”

Prominent Harare banker, Desmond Ali, who is also a boxing enthusiast, said he will also be waking up early to watch ‘The Fight of the Century’.

“I’m definitely not going to miss any of the action during this big fight. I’ll make sure that the generator at home is in perfect working condition in case of any power blackouts,” Ali said.

“Those guys are very good boxers and it’s going to be an interesting fight. Pacquiao has got the speed while Mayweather has a very good defence.

“Pacquiao is one boxer, who tries to adopt during a fight and in so doing he ends up walking into a punch. That’s what happened when he was knocked out by Juan Manuel Marquez a couple of years ago.

“This will be his biggest weakness in this fight. Mayweather fights a very calculated bout and he gets the job done. He is similar to Chelsea, he’s not worried about how the fight goes but at the end, he gets the result.

“Mayweather will definitely win this fight. It will go all the way and he will win it on points because of his well calculated game plan.”

Gilbert Munetsi, a former Zimbabwe Boxing Board of Control secretary, said he was also looking forward to the fight.

“This fight is like the World Cup for boxing enthusiasts like me and there is now way I’m going to miss any of the action,” he said..

“Predicting the winner of this super fight will be like trying to predict whether it’s going to rain or not by looking at the clouds. It’s too close to call.

“They are both recognised world boxing champions for their respective unions and that tells you a lot.”

Munesti, however, admitted that Mayweather has an edge over the Filipino.

“Pacman goes into this fight with the underdog tag after having lost five fights before and he has got nothing to lose,” he said.

“All the pressure will be on Mayweather because he is undefeated in 47 fights. But the main advantage he has is that the fight will be staged in his home country.

“The home crowd will be behind Mayweather and in boxing that’s a big advantage because it can influence the judges. The fight will go to the last round and Mayweather will win it on points.”

Patrick Tamson, an official with local betting shop, Moors World Of Sport, said most of the bets they have handled were in favour for Mayweather.

“The trend (betting) is for Mayweather to win on points. This is undoubtedly the fight of the decade. Expects predicts a win for Mayweather because of his technical superiority. The public support is for Pacquiao maybe because of his humble background.”

Former Sports minister David Coltart is going against popular opinion and is looking forward to a Pacquiao win though.

“What intrigues me about this fight is the contrasting personalities of the two fighters. By all accounts Pacquiao is a good guy. He puts money back into his community and is very down to earth,” said the Bulawayo-based lawyer.

“On the other hand, Mayweather is arrogant and brash but I guess it has something to do with boxing because you need such a character to be successful in that sport.

“I’ll not be waking up early to watch the fight but the first thing I’m going to do on Sunday morning is look for the result and the highlights. I must admit, that I’m looking forward to a Pacquiao win.”