SOUTHEAST TEXAS RECORD

Major sporting events often fail to equal the hype.

Sometimes two spectacular athletes or teams go head to head and the action is non-stop, the lead changing constantly, the outcome uncertain until the bell or buzzer sounds at the nerve-wracking, nail-biting end. More often, opponents are so evenly matched and focused on defense that the contest winds up being a snooze fest.

Such was the “Fight of the Century.”

Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, two of the best boxers ever to practice the sweet science, should have delivered one of the most exciting bouts in the history of the sport. Instead, they danced a 12-round minuet, Mayweather edging out Pacquiao in a close, but unanimous judges' decision.

The bout supposedly generated  hundreds of millions of dollars in gross revenue, with winner and loser disproportionately splitting a $300 million purse.

Pacquiao blamed his defeat on a previously undisclosed shoulder injury, which had partially healed but was re-injured in the fourth round.

It's not surprising that many of the  multimillion fight fans who paid $90 or more for pay-per-view access to the match were disappointed with the lackluster performance. But at least they weren't among the 500 spendthrifts who forked over $1,500 to $7,500 to see the event live at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Those people really got shortchanged.

Of course, if Mayweather had knocked out Pacquiao in the first round, or vice versa, paying customers still might feel cheated: “$90 for a one-round fight? What the heck!”

Houstonian Ryla Bouchier is trying to put a price tag on her disappointment with a class action suit against Mayweather, Pacquiao, et al. in the U.S. District Court for Southern Texas, Galveston Division. She claims  that the fight didn't live up to the hype and that the concealment of Pacquiao's injury constitutes fraud.

When it comes to hype and the pursuit of fraud, Bouchier may have a shot at the title.