All Roads Lead to Pacquiao-Mayweather
Pacquiao Vs. Mayweather is the Must-Make Fight of a Generation
Boxing fans too have long known this simple fact. If they play their cards right, two or maybe three generation defining fights will boil to the surface that they are lucky enough to witness. Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier; Sugar Ray Leanord vs. Tommy Hearns; and if all goes to plan then by early 2010 Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao.
For as you see, the stars have finally aligned in the boxing realm. The two top pound for pound boxers in the world are either in or near their prime and are both fighting in the same weight division. Neither have any lingering obligations to themselves or to the sport - pesky mandatory defenses, quests to win additional belts - that should get in the path of a potential showdown.
Public demand, the fuel for the boxing economy, is high enough that quite simply both men and their promoters would be fools of the highest proportions to not sign on the dotted line and get the fight made. Even the powers that be at HBO Sports have spoken out publicly that this is a fight that must get made, no excuses.
Still, while all roads lead to Mayweather vs. Pacquiao, there are some issues that must get dealt with before the fight is delivered to an eagerly anticipating public. This is boxing after all. With that said, here's a quick look at the two main potential snags that must be smoothed over before Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather arrives on our television screens.
Pacquiao vs. Mayweather Issue #1 - The Money Split
While the public demand to see this fight is massive, the egos behind the scenes may be even larger. Negotiations won't be easy when you're dealing with Floyd "Money" Mayweather and his arch-nemesis and former promoter, Bob Arum. Both sides are demanding the larger split of the pie, and both have their own cases.
Pacquiao's recent fight against Miguel Cotto sold more than Mayweather's outing in September against Juan Manuel Marquez, however Cotto was a bigger draw than Marquez and Mayweather has dramatically outsold Pacquiao against common opponents. Pacquiao is the more exciting fighter, but Mayweather is undefeated and has a longer history of big-time events.
The Solution: The fighters agree to each take home 45% of the pot, with the winner getting the additional 10%. Notorious egos Roy Jones and Bernard Hopkins paved the way for this by coming to a similar agreement for their pending bout in early 2010.
Pacquiao vs. Mayweather Issue #2 - The Weight
In Pacquiao's bout against Miguel Cotto, he and his team forced a catchweight on the bout, which required Cotto to weigh in at 145 lbs, two pounds below the true welterweight limit. Mayweather struggled to make the catchweight for his fight against Marquez - or perhaps never tried - and weighed in at the welterweight standard of 147 lbs. Will Team Pacquiao insist on a catchweight in order to give their man a leg up on fight night?
The Solution: In beating Miguel Cotto, Pacquiao captured a welterweight title and also proved he's more than big enough to match up against the division's best. The fight should be held at the standard welterweight limit of 147 lbs.
Neither of these potential problems should hinder the successful negotiation of the bout as long as some shred of sanity remains present. There are of course other issues - where and when the bout is held, who gets first billing on the card, what brand of gloves will be used by the fighters and so on - but nothing so substantial as to stand in the way of this massive fight.
With these pesky issues put aside, what exactly would a Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao bout mean for the boxing community? Quite simply, it anoints the best fighter of the generation. Either Mayweather retains his unblemished record and casts aside some of the doubt about his choice of opponents or Pacquiao continues an outlandish streak that has seen him win titles in seven different weight classes.
The betting lines show Pacquiao to be the early favorite, however you can expect the majority of boxing insiders to side with Mayweather's smooth boxing and counter punching. Let's just keep our fingers crossed that nothing arises at the last minute to throw a stick in the spokes. After all, even once in a lifetime astronomical events can be blocked out by a cloudy evening. Here's hoping for clear skies.
Published by Jake Emen
Based out of Washington D.C., Jake is a full-time freelance writer, and is the Editor of ProBoxing-Fans.com. He has been published on a variety of outlets, has served as both a Featured Contributor and Categ... View profile
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24 Comments
Post a CommentThe thing is that I simply don't see Pacman giving away his catchweight tactic for any reason, and I don't see Mayweather settling for less than 55% of the pie.
Even if Mayweather will win against Pacquiao, he won't be considered great. Mayweather ducked all opposition who will give him the first defeat in his resume. How will you consider a boxwer great if he is perceived to be a coward. Time will tell. And surely time will have a bitter judgment on Mayweather. A self-proclaimed great but not reached greatness as he perceived himself to be. Mayweather is a farce and many see it that way unless he is a blind fan. Media hyped Mayweather so much that he thinks that he is the best but should be wakenup from that illusion.
In and out, up and down, flurry of punches, jumping/leaping staights, crispy upper cuts and split second counters everywhere and hard right hooks. run , stalk , quick turns. I cant imagine how floyd stand with this pressure. Very small margin of error floyd and you will know how it feels to lose!
in fairness to Floyed he is realy a great boxer regardless of his boring style. This is boxing, dont dictate my moves principle.This is the fight between a boring vs exciting, runner vs stalker, defensive vs offensive, textbook boxing vs unorthodox boxing.One last thing floyd has perfected his style but so Manny too. Floyd is intelligent but same with Manny. This is very exciting fight this the battle between two different forces.
Kiss your zero goodbye Floyd..You can do it the same time you kiss the canvas. I can see your cowardly grin or your sarcastic smile. It will be the first time you get interviewed with a swollen face.
My son is very good. He dance well, and does shoulder roll. He is handsome like me. I don't want him to fight that Pilipino guy he may beat my son like he did with Dela Hoya, Hatton and Cotto. He does not belong in the ring with my son. My won will wup his ass.... Pacman can't hit my son... he moves and back pedals fast... cotto is to slow he did not run away faster as my son does... See you at the fight... We need your money folks. We need more drugs.
All of you are RIGHT. My cousin Floyd is afraid of the Pacman. One night he told he doesn't want to fight the Pacman because he knows he will no more see the zero. He keeps on bragging his zero. I told my cousin Floyd its good to have 1 done nothing. I also told him, in order to be a complete fighter you must have at least 1 in your record.
Guess what? Floyd agreed!
Pacquiao vs Mayweather will be a boring fight!! Mayweather should rejoin the dancing with the stars maybe he will win next time. Once he get by Pacquiao it will be very hard for Pacquiao to catch him. He will run away faster than Cotto. If he stands toe - toe against Pacquiao he may find himself copying Hatton. Might as well he bring his sleeping pad during the fight.
The problem here is that most boxing writer is seemingly not giving pacquiao a fair chance against money may. The fact is that no matter how pacman beat cotto, cotto hurt pacman very clearly and if you compare cotto from floyd...my god floyd is much..much..much bigger and talented and more cheater in weight. c'mon guys it's a trap for pacman to fight floyd at 147 lbs. Everybody is saying marquez is as good even much better than pacman and floyd agree to fight him at 144lbs. That said, there is no reason why floyd would not agree on the same catchweight with pacman. My advice to pacman..pac you agree on 45/55 on purse split give money may 55 but at 144lbs..you don't need much money when your health will be in danger. beware of the TRAP.
Pacman syle is no fit to Money May. Money May is a very clever defensive fighter. He don't even care the audience will fall asleep as long as his beautiful face is still intact. This is a wrong fight for Money May as Im sure he will end up not only a multi-million dollar man at the end of the fight but will be in coma for 3 days in the hospital. Poor Floyd, wake up and dont even think of taking this fight. Follow the advice of your loudmouth dad as even how many steroids you'll take it has no effect to pacman power.