No Holds Barred: Charles Farrell on Mayweather-Pacquiao and the Black Code of Fighting

(Photo of Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao by Esther Lin/Showtime)

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with our colleague, correspondent, and award-winning boxing writer, Charles Farrell.

He is also co-editor of The Boxing Standard.

We spoke with him by phone Sunday.

Our kickoff, of course, was Saturday's mega-fight, where Floyd Mayweather outpointed and outboxed Manny Pacquiao to win a deserved unanimous decision by scores of 118-110 and 116-112 twice. Mayweather, now the holder of three major welterweight belts, increases his record to 48-0 with 26 KOs, while Pacquiao falls to 57-6-2 with 38 KOs.

Besides evaluating Mayweather's successful neutralizing of Pacquiao's offense and his greater accuracy and volume of punches landed in this fight, we discussed the art of boxing and how Mayweather's performance measured up in this category.

While Charles Farrell said he is "a real advocate of art in boxing," he added that Mayweather "fell short of art" while having a "highly efficient performance." He also said his favorite fighter today is the super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux of Cuba, whom he called a "supreme artist."

We refuted those who claimed that this fight showed that "boxing is dead" because it was not a bloody brawl with multiple knockdowns ending in one fighter sprawled on the mat.

This fight was a prime example of what Charles Farrell calls the "Black code of fighting". He explained this in depth in his recent pre-fight article "Why Floyd Mayweather Is The Last Of A Kind".

Black code fighting is, he said, "a style that Black fighters developed starting around the turn of the twentieth century. It hit its heyday probably from the 1930s right through the 1950s. And this is a style that Black fighters developed among themselves to keep themselves healthy, to not get hurt, to be able to stay busy because they had to fight a lot to make a living. So it was a style based on efficiency, tremendous defensive skill, the ability to set traps, to lure people into situations where they couldn't do their work. It's a very subtle style."

In it, "You don't do much."

And he said, "In many ways, Floyd Mayweather is just about the last of a long line of fighters who are really proficient at it. And what we saw last night was a good example of that style of fighting."

We also discussed Pacquiao's post-fight excuses about having an injury; his absurd claim that he won the fight; how the many technical problems with the pay-per-view telecast along with the emergence of many streaming video apps will further weaken boxing's pay-per-view model; what may be next for Mayweather in what he says will be the final fight of his career; and much, much more.

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Thanks, Eddie Goldman
EddieGoldman.com

A great show, Eddie. I knew something was up when everyone started calling it boring. I read Farrel's article before the fight, so that clued me in that everyone had no idea what they were seeing.

A decent show. It's a polarizing fight and I'm a partisan of Pacqiaou. I don't agree that the injury was faked. From what I read the drugs were approved for use way before by NSAC. They knew he was using them. They said the particulars of the injury weren't reported. Maybe it was an oversight. Maybe fighters don't make a habit of leaking injuries before a big fight. NSAC is corrupt as hell. This is the commission which had Lorenzo Fertitta on its board and which was manipulated by him to strongarm purchase the UFC. Floyd got his xylocaine shots in the hands. Manny wasn't allowed to inject antinflamitory drugs that had already been approved for use during the training phase immediately prior to the fight.

I guess Pacqiaou should've publicly disclosed the injury so that Floyd could jab his right shoulder and so the public could turn away from the fight.

"About ninety minutes before the fight, Aguilar claims that Pacquiao's team wanted to have a new doctor licensed for Pacquaio's corner. Aguilar was suspicious. Asked why, he was told by the team that Pacquaio had a shoulder injury, and that the medicine he was taking was not on a questionnaire his team submitted before the fight.

Aguilar had no idea about the medications, and didn't know anything about them. He had to spell out the drugs: "Lidocaine, Dupivocene, Celestone."

With such little time, Aguilar said he decided to not allow Pacquaio to take the drugs. It's unclear what recourse, if any, Top Rank and Pacquiao will pursue."

http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/122056884/pacquiao-mayeather-bout-shoulder-injury-bob-arum-joe-aguilar

We didn't say this injury was faked, just that it was an excuse. Arum and co. tried to pull a fast one on the Nevada commission by pushing all this stuff at the last minute.

From the horse's mouth:

Article Link - http://www.boxingscene.com/nsac-chairman-disputes-arums-details-on-pacs-injury--90579#ixzz3Z94lJzbE
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''I made the decision not to allow [the shot] because of the timing of the request and the fact that the fight was going to occur in the next 90 minutes. We were not aware of his injury until tonight at 6:30,'' said Aguilar. ''The medications he was taking were disclosed on his medical questionnaire, but not the actual injury. ... This isn't our first fight. This is our business. There is a process, and when you try to screw with the process, it's not going to work for you.''

They knew the medicine. Is Aguilar an orthopedic surgeon? What does Pacqiaou having a physician on hire have to do with anything?

Maybe certain procedures weren't followed. But the drugs were approved, per Aguilar's own words. And then they were denied 90 minutes before the fight.

Floyd no doubt got his xylocaine shots.

Pacqiaou's camp is to blame though for being tight lipped about a training injury. I don't agree.

Yes, they wouldn't let him take a cocktail of painkillers 90 minutes before the fight. They are grasping at straws. Mayweather outboxed and out-thought him. And even then, Pacquiao claimed after the fight to Kellerman that he thought he won it! Typical of one more rich politician.

I don't think Pacqiaou is a good politician. He's the most famous athlete in his country and it earned him a place in parliament. He seems like a meat puppet for religious fundamentalists. Come to think of it Vitali Klitscho as a meat puppet for fascists comes to mind.

I'm a fan of him as a boxer. Also if you want to make it personal what about Floyd's tendency of beating women (and their mothers) for which he served time even?

What is the relevance again with respect to Pacqiaou?

I did read that he donated half his purse to charity.

The drugs were registered and approved with the commission. He attempted to take "a cocktail of drugs" which had been approved for him to use by NSAC and by USADA. The pretext for the denial was that the exact terms of the injury hadn't been fully vetted. What relavence does that have as to whether the drugs were permissable or not? I see no relavence.

Not 90 minutes before the fight. That's why the commission stopped him. He is a sore loser, and Arum is likely once again lying about what happened. All fighters have injuries. This is disgraceful behavior from a millionaire politician.

I also see little relavence in much else you said. Pacqiaou thinks he won. He had moments. Fighters often think they won a fight when it's over. Their vantage point is different.

Mayweather is better. We all know you think that. Well he showed that he is. Pacqiaou was injured though. And there is a case that NSAC might have pulled a dirty trick.

Let's focus on the relavent issue. Pacqiaou wasn't allowed to take preapproved drugs on the pretense that the head of NSAC wasn't fully informed of the injury. Is he an orthopedic surgeon? How is that even relavent? Either the drugs are allowed or not.

I'll tell you what I think. It was cover for the fact that Floyd has xylocaine injections in his hands before every fight and his injuries to his hands are well publicized. This is cover for a double standard which was effected due to a bait and switch.

nhbnews wrote:Not 90 minutes before the fight. That's why the commission stopped him. He is a sore loser, and Arum is likely once again lying about what happened. All fighters have injuries. This is disgraceful behavior from a millionaire politician.

The commissioner said in his own words that the drugs had been approved.

If it was an issue should not they have looked into it?

Why is it they allow him to use the drugs in training immediately before the fight but then not for the fight?

If it is an issue of the purpose (the specific injury) for using the drugs how is that not an issue in training? But it is suddenly one on fight night?

I don't buy any of this.

And what does your dissatisfaction with Arum have to do with this issue? You think he lies, I agree, that's somewhat relavent. So how about focusing on the words from the mouth of the NSAC commissioner?

To repeat myself, I think he was justifying the double standard with Mayweather's xylocaine, because Mayweather's hand problems are very well known.

I also don't think it wise of a fighter to reveal details of injuries before a fight.

Disclosing the drugs should have been enough.

I say it is corruption.

I think I'll have the crow.

Pacquiao Could Face Suspension or Fine From NSAC - Boxing News

http://www.boxingscene.com/pacquiao-face-suspension-fine-from-nsac--90637

It seems that there were procedures which were not followed, and were in fact perhaps evaded.

Maybe to avoid any risk of postponement given the stakes.

I may be a cynic. But I'm willing to admit when I'm wrong, particularly in light of new info.

Never trust Arum. And Pacquiao is a pro-theocratic politician and the darling of the Filipino oligarchy. Floyd is a small-time louse compared to these guys, and a better boxer than Manny.

Arum makes Fertitta look like an amateur.

http://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/07/sports/boxing-arum-gives-description-of-payments-to-ibf.html

But USADA was only a third party to the fight, charged only with testing the fighters for banned substances in training and the night of the bout.

"We had no medical information, no MRIs, no documents," said Travis Tygart, who heads the USADA.

"It was not an anti-doping issue. The real question is why his camp checked 'no' on the disclosure.

"Either they made a terrible mistake to not follow the rules or they were trying not to give information to the other side. I'm not sure there's a middle ground."

http://www.express.co.uk/sport/boxing/574937/Manny-Pacquiao-Floyd-Mayweather-Fight-Century-boxing

nhbnews wrote:And Pacquiao is a pro-theocratic politician and the darling of the Filipino oligarchy. Floyd is a small-time louse compared to these guys, and a better boxer than Manny.

Manny is promoted as a guy who grew up on the streets and a hardcore Christian yet in reality as soon as he got a little fame he couldn't wait to join up with the corrupt elite of the Philippines.

TeamJohnPerretti wrote:

nhbnews wrote:And Pacquiao is a pro-theocratic politician and the darling of the Filipino oligarchy. Floyd is a small-time louse compared to these guys, and a better boxer than Manny.

Manny is promoted as a guy who grew up on the streets and a hardcore Christian yet in reality as soon as he got a little fame he couldn't wait to join up with the corrupt elite of the Philippines.

I noticed some of that.