The Kentucky Derby; Mayweather v. Pacquiao; The NFL Draft … Predictions For May 2nd!
Let’s be honest. Come May 2nd, no one is going to be watching the NFL Draft.
Why they choose to drag this out over a three-day period is beyond me. All people are interested in watching is the first 30 minutes, maybe the first hour, but at most the first round of the draft, that takes place on April 30. By May 2nd, and Rounds 4-7 of the draft, most, if not all people will have tuned out of the NFL Draft in favor of both the Kentucky Derby and what’s going to be the highest-grossing boxing fight ever, the Mayweather v. Pacquiao fight.
Who’s going to be where? Recall last year, Wes Welker handed out hund-o’s after hitting it big at the Kentucky Derby.
Wes Welker Makes Friends at the Derby
We’ve also seen other NFL players at the Kentucky Derby, including Tom Brady, Matt Schaub, EJ Manuel, Mark Sanchez, Donald Driver and more at the Derby sporting all the fashionable accoutrements that go with the race.
Typically at boxing matches, we don’t see too many NFL players. Rather, boxing seems to attract actors and musicians, like Jeremy Piven and Sean “P. Diddy” Combs (not sure what he is going by these days).
We are very excited about being at a boxing match.
My guess is that come Saturday, P. Diddy, Justin Bieber and 50 Cent will be at the Mayweather / Pacquiao fight and Tom Brady and Giselle will still be at the Derby. I also think that most of the NFL prospects being drafted will have their TV’s tuned to the appropriate stations and will NOT be watching the NFL Draft!
The 141st Kentucky Derby, set to begin at 6:24 p.m. EDT, will feature a 20-horse field with American Pharaoh and a horse called Dortmund as favorites. Dortmund? Yeah, I had to Wikipedia that one. Apparently it is a city in Germany and home to one of the most successful soccer (football) clubs in Germany, the Borussia Dortmund. Whether this has anything to do with the naming of the horse is a good question. Hopefully they’ll answer that in the run-up to what is called the “most exciting two minutes in sports.”
But what you really want to know is who’s going to win … I have no idea, but I’ll put down my trifecta (a bet in which I forecast the first three finishers in the correct order) right here and right now:
- American Pharoah – ridden by Victor Espinoza (a great rider who won the Derby in 2014 on California Chrome);
- Carpe Diem – ridden by John Velazquez (another veteran rider who won the Kentucky Derby in 2011 on Animal Kingdom);
- El Kabeir – ridden by Calvin Borel (a man who has won the Kentucky Derby three times).
That’s right … I think the jockey matters. Also, I can’t root for both American Pharaoh and Dortmund to win because they have the same trainer, Bob Baffert.
While you might think about betting on Itsaknockout, because of the boxing match set to begin much later in the evening, I would avoid that. Itsaknockout finished fourth in the Florida Derby that took place just a month ago. Also, he’s got too much other stuff going on. Apparently there is cross-selling going on with Itsaknockout set to promote the boxing match with one side of the horse’s blanket saying “Mayweather” in orange and the other side saying “Pacquiao” in yellow. As if we needed more advertising for the fight …
Which brings me to my prediction for the Mayweather Pacquiao fight … I predict that the fight goes the distance and that Pacquiao wins!
Why? Because there’s too much money to be made in NOT making this fight the first of three between the two, boxing needs a boost and these are the only two that can give it that boost. But the only way it happens is if Pacquiao wins the first fight, bringing Mayweather’s record to 47-1. That’s right y’all! Remember, you heard it here first!
Now go get that simple syrup ready for those mint julips and plan what you are going to switch to afterwards to ensure you make it to the main event!
Cheers,
John
UPDATE: With El Kabeir a scratch, I am going with Dortmund, despite what I said above, to take third. Let’s race!!
Twitter: @FBGarbageTalk