As one clever fan put it after the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao battle: "The real fight was between Jamie Foxx and the national anthem."

Foxx, who won an Oscar as legendary singer Ray Charles in "Ray," sang the National Anthem at the so-called fight of the century on Saturday. But did he really sing it? Fans gave him a serious beating on Twitter after the event, and Foxx addressed the criticism Tuesday on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."

"I sung the National Anthem, now some people were a little upset about how it went down," Foxx said. "But here's the thing. First of all, anytime a black person sings the National Anthem, you know we gotta, 'Ohhhhhh sayyyy can you-oooooo-ooooooo.'" The audience cut him off with their cheers. "But what did happen in the ring, my ears came out. My inner ears." Ellen asked him to explain his earpiece reference. "My inner ears were out and I'm singing with an organ so I can't hear what the organ is doing with the big crowd," he continued. "So some of it was a little off. But in the arena, it killed. The telecast was a little off, but we still love America." He turned to the audience and they applauded again.

There's a long line of singers who probably shouldn't have been asked to sing the National Anthem, especially in front of a huge crowd, and Jamie Foxx might have to join that list. (But behind Roseanne, right? He wasn't that bad.) At least he gave fans something interesting to talk about, which is good since they paid a lot for that conversation piece, and the rest of the #MayPac fight was more tame.

Watch and judge: