Clock is Ticking on Pacquiao vs. Mayweather
The common presumption when it comes to Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather is that sooner or later the egos and posturing will be pushed aside and boxing’s two biggest names will settle affairs in the ring. I certainly hope so, but as the issue drags on and on it becomes ever more likely that this fight will never happen. What if Manny Pacquiao decides he likes politics more than boxing and retires, leaving Floyd Mayweather holding the bag? What if one of them loses or simply looks bad in their next fight? That would become the ammunition for a whole new round of posturing and demands on the part of the guy with the untarnished reputation. And so on and so on.
“But surely the money will bring these guys together? Who would turn down that big fat pot of cash in the long run?“ Sadly, it has happened before and it will happen again, even in instances where fear of losing might not be the motivating factor. Just as some boxers take a fight they know they cannot win for the payday, fights sometimes don’t happen even when money, politics and fear of losing are not a detrimental issue.
Another big fight for Manny Pacquiao would be a Juan Manuel Marquez rubber match, and Pacman certainly thinks he would triumph in such an encounter, yet in my bones I know that is a fight that simply will not happen. Bar none, the biggest fight to be made in all of modern boxing outside of Pacman and Money Mayweather is the big brother vs. little brother showdown, Wlad vs. Vitali. Yet neither Klitschko shows any interest in collecting a huge payday for what would essentially be a friendly, tactical boxing match.
Riddick Bowe had a good chance to win against Lennox Lewis in 1992 and 1993, and it was certainly the most lucrative fight option open to him. Instead, he fought Michael Dokes, Jessie Fergusson and lost a rematch to Holyfield. Even with both Bowe and Lewis in the wilderness in the mid-1990s, the bout still never came about. Joe Frazier and Ken Norton never fought, even though the fan interest and the money were certainly there, simply because their mutual trainer made it plain he would be in neither man’s corner if they did meet in a prizefight instead of a sparring match.
I want to see this fight just like every other die-hard boxing fan, but the thing is that I know this business and I know my history. The longer the business of making this fight happen drags out, the less likely it is it will ever happen. Frankly, if the contract isn’t signed before the end of 2010, Mayweather vs. Pacquiao will become one of those great “what if” bouts that should have taken place, but never did.
