By Martin ‘The Brain’ Potter of the Boxing Clever Podcast – In December 2007, as his patented check-hook crashed into the side of Ricky Hatton’s face and sent him sprawling head first into the ring-post, there was no doubt that Floyd Mayweather was the number one pound for pound fighter on the planet. Manny Pacquiao, a fantastic fighter at the lower weights, was still seen as slightly vulnerable and although well known to boxing fans, he had not yet achieved global adulation.
Following his victory over Hatton, Floyd had the option of a lucrative return with the ‘Golden Boy’ Oscar De La Hoya, but bizarrely the man who had taken to calling himself ‘Money’ turned down the ‘money’ in what would have almost certainly been the biggest payday of his career thus far. Mayweather announced his so called retirement from boxing. At that moment in time a fight between Floyd and Manny had not even been considered.
Pacquiao, now with another world title up at lightweight following victory over David Dias (hard to believe now, but many tipped him to struggle in that fight), stepped into the breach and agreed to take on De La Hoya. He had now stepped on Floyd’s patch and the ascent of Manny Pacquiao to global superstardom and entrenchment as the pound for pound number one had begun, as had Floyd Mayweather’s decent into part-time boxer / public hate figure territory. In my opinion it is Mayweather’s refusal to give De La Hoya a rematch and Pacquiao’s agreement to risk it all against the bigger man that marks the key moment when the pound for pound guard changed from Floyd to Manny – a change that I now don’t think Floyd will ever reverse.
As we all know the ‘Pac-man’ took over the boxing world in the manner that his electronic counterpart of the same name took over the arcades in the 80s. In the way that the small screen phenom dispatched ghosts, Manny was dispatching world class boxers from De La Hoya, through Hatton to Cotto – none of them stood a chance against his flashing Filipino fists. Floyd, missing the money – it’s not cheap to ‘make it rain’ you know – and seething with envy at Pacquiao’s meteoric rise, promptly unretired from the sport on the eve of the Hatton – Pacquiao fight and announced his comeback against Manny’s nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez.
Despite Floyd Mayweather’s ‘comeback’, if you can call it that, he and Pacquiao have just circled each other without ever choosing to dance. Irrespective of the reasons for the fight everyone wants to see never being signed – the whys and wherefores have been argued about to death – the fact is both men have denied fight fans the world over of the biggest fight in a generation. I firmly believe the fight will now never happen.
My belief is that after this year we will not see Manny Pacquiao in a boxing ring again, with him retiring having secured his place amongst the all-time greats (he will smash Shane Mosley this weekend) and concentrating on his burgeoning political career. As for Floyd, who knows – an incredible talent who in my opinion has wasted what should have been the best four years of his career. It could be that his out of ring troubles will end any future any in-ring aspirations, if he even has any left.
The biggest shame here is that for a brief moment in time the two best pound for pound fighters in the sport, the two best fighters of their generation, were both operating in the same weight class and both were at their peak. This rarely happens. Yet in seems that despite being in the same place at the same time these two great fighters were going in different directions, destined never to collide. Hopefully history will judge both fighters favourably despite the glaring omission they will have on their respective records.
For more boxing opinion, inane babble and poor attempts at humour from ‘The Brain’ listen to the 5 star rated Boxing Clever Podcast, available on iTunes or at www.boxingcleverpodcast.libsyn.com or you can email me at boxingcleverpodcast@gmail.com.