What money and notorious left behind

“My writing is nothing, my boxing is everything,” Nobel Earnest Hemingway wrote. As the Nobel Prize laureate liked boxing so much that he might have spent more time on boxing than writing. He did boxing sparring with other writers when he stayed in Paris in the 1920s, and Scott Fitzgerald, the author of “The Great Gatsby,” was a timekeeper.

There was a time when Koreans enjoyed watching professional boxing matches. They were excited at Hong Soo-hwan, a legendary Korean boxer, in the WBA junior-featherweight match in 1977. His match was aired 27 times on that day. Famous professional boxers such as Jang Jeong-gu, Yoo Je-doo and Yoo Myeong-woo are part of fond memories of middle-aged Koreans. The boxing heroes who overcame poor conditions were a useful example in teaching grit to children.

Boxing, which was overshadowed by professional baseball and soccer, has regained attention. The Floyd Mayweather Jr. versus Conor McGregor match in Las Vegas on Sunday topped viewing ratings (12.9 percent) in Korea. The “Fight of the Century,” which attracted global attention, allowed both boxers to sit on a pile of money. Mayweather made around 200 million won (177,000 U.S. dollars) per second and McGregor made 67 million won (59,400 dollars) if their 10-round match is divided by total money earned.

Mayweather’s nickname is “Money” as he shows off money on the table on social media. McGregor’s is “Notorious,” as he is known as a brat in the martial art community. Some criticize Mayweather who recorded 50 wins over the martial artist is a disgrace for boxing. McGregor who landed 170 punches in the first boxing match in his lifetime has earned a tremendous amount of money with attention from Hollywood. The romantic time is over to see boxing as a "fight against oneself" or an "honest sport fighting with one’s body." Now, the squared ring appears to have become an entertainment stage where astronomical amount of money dances.