Floyd Mayweather vs Andre Berto is still a dumpster fire. It’s a slightly different dumpster fire than when we first discussed what a dumpster fire it was, so you get a picture of a different dumpster fire than last time.
How’s it different? The Sept. 12 bout, announced officially on Tuesday, will be on pay-per-view rather than free on CBS, as rumored during the earlier discussion; apparently, brilliant boxing businessman Mayweather exhausted his window for securing advertising such to make it financially viable on CBS. Also, the undercard, previously unannounced, isn’t bad at all — Badou Jack vs George Groves (super middleweight) and Rocky Martinez vs Orlando Salido II (junior lightweight).
The match-up raises a torturous quandary. Mayweather-Berto is awful by any measurement, regardless of its method of delivery. But would you rather a bunch of people “get” to see an awful fight for free, and the attendant negative consequences of that? Or would you rather than everyone have to pay for utter dreck in a main event in exchange for a little good boxing?