What if Mayweather and Pacquiao can’t agree?
Hands up if you are a boxing fan who is irritated and bored stupid by the palaver surrounding the arrangement of the Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather super-fight?
It’s so boring isn’t it? It would be nice if they showed some respect for the fans, for the sport and just got on with it. If they don’t fight, they are denying everyone the chance to watch the two best boxers of their generation compete in a thrilling contest and really rejuvenate the sport internationally by bringing it back into the public psyche. You can put your hand down now by the way.
Instead of an exciting contest we are stuck with catty remarks, overblown demands and squabbling between the two camps. The prospective March meeting fell apart, and the one pencilled in for November, potentially Pacquiao’s last ever as he turns political powerhouse, is far from sorted.
Without going into all the ins-and-outs as to why this may not happen, it might be worth seeing who Pacquiao’s options are if he doesn’t sort it out with Mayweather.
Granted, whoever it is will be a disappointment. It’s like turning up at a theme park finding out the rollercoaster is broken and just the tea cups work.
Yes, Pacquiao has eased his stance towards Mayweather’s Olympic-style drug testing, but you’d be a madman to believe this fight is a certainty.
So in the event of another postponement, who could be Pacquiao’s rival in what may well be his farewell fight?
The first name that keeps cropping up is Antonio Margerito and the odds on him rearing his head at The Cowboy Stadium in November must be shortening by the day. Obviously the connection here is that Margarito is also one of Bob Arum’s stooges. It would be no surprise to see the Mexican there in what would be a classic Arum move, but surely he doesn’t deserve a crack at “Pacman” after the hand-wrap scandal.
Margarito was found to have a plaster-of-Paris like substance in his hand-wrap’s before the Shane Mosley fight, and although he has denied all knowledge of this, he has since had his licence revoked. Arum could probably get that back for him, but with rewrapped hands he got blown away by Mosley which makes you wonder about those hard hitting performances by him and it has certainly turned-off a lot of fans.
Next name on the list is probably Miguel Cotto. It would be a rematch of their blood-stained fight in November of last year, but that answered all the questions that needed answering and was a one-sided afair. Cotto is cutting easier than a tomato these days and it’s unlikely he is going to be able to cause Pacquiao too much trouble in a rematch, the outcome would probably be the same. There’s no questioning he's a warrior but he was exposed by Pacman’s hand-speed and couldn't trouble the WBO champ with his power, there is just no need for a rematch.
Cotto fights Yuri Foreman this weekend and should the Israeli come out of that one the winner he’s not going to get a crack at Pacquiao as the Filipino and his camp ruled him out on the basis of being too tall.
Then we have sparring partner and fellow Freddie Roach pupil Amir Khan. It’s a bit early for Khan but he has talked of fighting Pacquiao in the future and if this is his last chance maybe he’d take it, a sort of passing of the torch from one speedy handed pugilist to the other. It would be very unlikely though, if he did do this at 23-years of age, it may be a disastrous career choice, gutsy though.
Zab Judah would have been a good shout but he has lost to Joshua Clottey and Cotto, who both fell to Pacman, but their similar fast attacking styles would make for an exciting spectacle.
Outside chances include Andre Berto, but like Khan it wouldn’t be a great career move for the talented and as yet unbeaten youngster. Paul Williams would almost certainly drop down a division to face Pacquiao, but he’s even taller than Foreman so there’s no way Pacman would take him on.
Basically whoever he faces, if it isn’t Mayweather it will be second rate. When Clottey was announced as Mayweather’s replacement there were a few thoughts of “You never know, Clottey’s a solid boxer, he could ask Pacquiao some questions”, but no, he was blown away and you get the feeling that may happen again.
Just get on with it Floyd and Manny. Do it for boxing, do it for the fans, do it for your legacies and do it for everyone’s sanity.
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