By Jonathan Elliott: Pacquiao vs Mayweather one of the most talked about fights in the history of boxing unfortunately unlike Hagler vs Hearns, Ali vs Foreman, Gatti vs Ward we are not talking about it because of what we have witnessed inside the ring but for what we haven’t witnessed is what strives the talking point.
So who’s to blame? In my last article “boxing politics killing the sport?” I touched on how I thought that Bob Arum was stopping the fight from happening but that doesn’t mean that Mayweather is an innocent party in all of this, he should be held accountable for his crazy demands and wild accusations of steroid use thus resulting in random blood tests leading up to the fight. Calling out Pacquiao and then offering him ridiculous deals involving the money which he knows won’t be accepted will not fool the fans into thinking that Pacquiao is the one doing the avoiding, Pacquiao is as just a big a draw and deserves the 50/50 split.
I believe Mayweather has more to lose with his proud undefeated record at stake, he is certainly a future hall of famer for his contribution to boxing but will he be happy with his legacy without the Pacquiao fight? I don’t think so, he won’t want the question marks hanging over his head of who was the better boxer of his era him or Pacquiao? He might not realise it yet but I’m sure he will when he retires.
I don’t think that Pacquiao is as concerned about his legacy he like Mayweather has achieved vast amounts in the sport of boxing and is an icon and great ambassador for his country and if Mayweather was to beat him in his last fight he would still go out with his head held high at what he has achieved, Mayweather however would be the unhappier fighter with a loss as it would ruin his perfect record.
For me on Pacquiaos side Bob Arum is to blame and doesn’t want to risk him in with Mayweather until it’s Pacquiaos last fight, Pacquiaos fans are loyal and would still turn out to see Pacquiao fight if he did lose before then as let’s remember he already has three losses on his record and they still flock to see him, maybe Arum thinks as Pacquiao’s coming to the end of his career if he goes in with Mayweather now and gets beat he will retire so why would Arum do that when he can squeeze a few more fights out of him and then give him Mayweather as his last fight when he has nothing to lose as Pacquiao’s retiring anyway, a loss tho for Mayweather or Pacquiao before they fight each other would definitely make their super fight lose some of it’s appeal how could it not? Let’s look at Pacquiaos last fight were the majority of people believed that Marquez won the fight but Pacquiao got the decision, whether Marquez did enough or not to dethrone a champion is debatable but nevertheless The MGM Grand Garden Arena was filled with a chorus of boos when the verdict was read out, if Marquez was the clear winner then why not award him the decision? Because like I said the mega fight between Pacquiao and Mayweather would lose some appeal.
The biggest question who would win? I am a neutral fan of both boxers and can see it going either way which is what makes the fight so intriguing, It seems after Pacquiaos last fight most people would favour Mayweather and they would have good reason to, not because the majority of people believed Marquez beat Pacquiao and Mayweather dominated Marquez in a very one sided affair back in 2009 because styles makes fights and we all know that’s not how things work, but because Marquez counter- punched and fought the same way that Mayweather would fight him only difference being that Mayweather is the best counter-puncher in the game and would certainly apply these tactics even better.
However with Mayweathers last fight against Ortiz even tho he was winning convincingly, when Ortiz backed him up against the ropes he certainly landed, well at least that was the case until he lost his concentration and got frustrated with some of his misses, point being tho a few years ago the shots that were getting through even if it was only a few wouldn’t of landed, so one has to ask is Mayweather declining slightly? And if Pacquiao has you backed up against the ropes and is allowed to land your in trouble.
Up next for both fighters are credible opponents with Pacquiao fighting a young, hungry, undefeated fighter in Timothy Bradley which is always going to be dangerous and Mayweather fighting the rejuvenated Miguel Cotto at his preferred weight so they both make for interesting fights but it’s still not what the fans really want to see, both sides are to blame for the fight not materializing yet, one things for sure tho, the excuses have to stop and both fighters need to meet in the ring for the sake of boxing and the fans, both fighters deserve tremendous amounts of respect for their achievements but the next time I write an article with Pacquiao and Mayweather both mentioned in it I would like it to be an analysis of their fight, Pens and laptops down gloves on.