Manny Pacquiao looked very good last night in gaining “revenge” over the man who officially defeated him but never really beat him almost two years ago. Still fast of hand and still having real fire in his belly, the Filipino superstar won a wide decision over an aggressive but wild Tim Bradley. But, once again, the talk at the post-fight press conference was of a Floyd Mayweather Junior-Manny Pacquiao showdown: this must-see fight being one that fans have been hoping for, and hoping for, for a number of years now.
Pacquiao told the gathered media that his phone line is “always open,” and that as such a fight with the undefeated Mayweather can be made. Fans, though, gave up holding their breath many moons ago (the fight would have been a true world event, transcending boxing had it taken place in 2009 or 2010) and there really doesn’t seem to be too much hope of the fight being made this year or next – at a time, by the way, when both greats will be aged 38 and 36 respectively; with Floyd being the older man.
Bob Arum, who many people blame for the fight not getting made – those fans who do not blame Floyd, anyway, those who do not feel Mayweather is afraid of Pac-Man – yesterday said that the fight CAN be made, if only Floyd will “sit down like a normal human being at a conference table and negotiate a freakin’ deal,” as quoted to The Las Vegas Sun.
Fat chance of that happening? Certainly, Mayweather – a man who is truly his own boss – is loathe to ever sit down anywhere close to Arum. There is no love lost between the two, that’s for sure. And Arum – possibly still fuming at the way The MGM, the site of his fighter Pacquiao’s latest promotion, plastered their walls with Mayweather-Maidana hype – yesterday urged fans to boycott “The Moment,” set for May 3rd.
“The only people can make Floyd Mayweather fight Manny is the public if they boycott the nonsense on May 3rd,” Arum told The Las Vegas Sun. “That’s when the fight will happen without any precondition on either side. If you want a [Pacquiao] fight, don’t buy [Maidana] on pay-per-view and don’t buy tickets for it.”
Love him or loathe him, it’s tough to not want to tune in to see a Mayweather fight, though, and Arum knows this as much as anyone. No way will Mayweather-Maidana be anything but a big box office success. But how big, still, could Mayweather-Pacquiao be? We’re all tired of waiting and talking about it, but we simply can’t help it.
It’s the only fight that truly matters today.
Instead, look for Mayweather to handily defeat Maidana, then fight Amir Khan, and for Pacquiao to fight the winner of the upcoming Juan Manuel Marquez-Mike Alvarado clash. Poor consolation fights for the one we all want to see, but this is the boxing world we live in today.
