A ringside view

I'll never forget the day that I travelled half the length of the world to see the greatest living sportsman perform.

"This is not a fight. This is what we call an event," said boxing legend Floyd Mayweather to a crowd of journalists before his clash with the Mexican icon Saul Alvarez in Las Vegas on September 14, 2013.

The famous novelist Joyce Carole Oates observed that boxing is so full of 'agon' (an Ancient Greek word simultaneously meaning 'competition' and 'struggle') that you don't play it as you play basketball or baseball or soccer. You do boxing, you endure boxing, you survive boxing.

It is more than just a sport, and it has an enduring grip on the human psyche.

Thousands of fans and journalists - from Mexico, America and across the globe - journeyed excitedly to the 'city of sin' on America's west coast to watch history unfold. Would the young Mexican upstart dethrone the undisputed king of the sport?

Of all the millions around the world tuning in, some at ungodly hours, I was one of the few fortunate thousands to be there live (ahead of the likes of Will Smith and Jay-Z, who reportedly requested tickets but left it too late).

Perhaps the greatest moment in sport is the brief period before the sounding of the first bell in a boxing super-fight.

There is a hushed anticipation, noticeable for only a second or two, when everybody in the arena and around the world realises that the moment of truth has arrived.

The months of hype, speculation, taunting and boasting that were building towards this moment now became gloriously irrelevant - the truth, amidst all the bluster, would reveal itself.

Alvarez, roared on vociferously by thousands of his countrymen, was looking to impose his size on Mayweather, but the old master was too wise and adept.

His movement and sharpness was mesmeric. It was almost magical how he would evade a hammer-like blow from Alvarez, and simultaneously land a crisp, accurate punch himself.

He cruised to a dominant victory.

In boxing terms, Mayweather is yards and yards ahead of his nearest competitor; his extensive skill set includes speed, agility, power, movement, fitness, conditioning, patience, temperament, desire and, most importantly, in-ring intelligence.

And he is quite possibly the greatest perfectionist the world of sport has ever seen.

I will never forget my experience in Las Vegas, when I was privileged to watch a modern-day gladiator further enhance his legacy in the toughest sport known to man.