Why Floyd Mayweather v Manny Pacquiao must happen
Luke Skywalker had Darth Vader, Flash Gordon had Ming the Merciless even Audley Harrison had Danny Williams.
Every competitor needs a rival of equal ability that will push them to the limit. As the dust settles on Floyd Mayweather Jnr’s virtuoso victory over Shane Mosley, talk once again returns to the Manny Pacquiao dream matchup.
This isn’t just a bout that needs to happen for the fans; both Pacquiao and Mayweather’s legacy depend on this fight coming to pass.
A boxer is judged on the pugilist he has beaten. What regard would Sugar Ray Leonard, Marvin Hagler, Tommy Hearn and Roberto Duran be held in without each other? Would Sugar Ray Robinson and Jake La Motta be remembered as heroes of the ring without their epic series? Even the greatest, Muhammad Ali needed Joe Frazier to help cement his place in history.
The latest news is Pacquiao has decided that he might be a bit more amenable to Mayweather's intensive drug testing demands. It’s a tete-a-tete that’s going to keep running and basically annoy and bore fans into submission with speculation. It’s the boxing equivalent of Cristiano Ronaldo's protracted move from Manchester United to Real Madrid.
In theory there should be no problem with Mayweather’s demands, but there is a slightly sinister motive, a bit of one-upmanship that Pacquiao won’t buy into. The ever-modest “Money” is trying to dictate the terms of the fight and in a way give himself a psychological advantage, delivering the first blow before the bell has even rung.
In return Pacquiao is being stubbornly awkward about the whole thing. It seems highly unlikely that he would be that bothered about giving a pin prick of blood 14 days before a fight. It’s all very catty and petulant.
Like him or loath him Mayweather has proved himself the best of his generation. With any success comes the doubters and naysayers though. Accusations banded about are that he only fights smaller fighters, that he doesn’t go toe-to-toe and his CV is littered with past it and shot former legends. Of course there is some substance to this; Mayweather does tend to fight fighters stepping up in weight class or slightly past their peak. The likes of Oscar De la Hoya, Juan Marquez and Arturo Gatti all had better days by the time they took on the American. What you can’t deny though, is that he has comprehensively beaten every challenger who has stepped in the ring with him.
There is also the problem of his slightly less than humble views of himself. You need to take Mayweather with a pinch of salt; always a businessman as much as a fighter he’s just selling tickets. But comparing himself to Ali and waving around wads of cash isn’t really going to endear him to the general public and has been detrimental to his reputation.
Pacquiao is the current darling of the sport but he has three defeats on his record and has only been on most people’s radar as world class for the past three or four years. Like Mayweather you could argue that his record has quite a few past their peak fighters like De la Hoya, Hatton, Hugo Larios and Antonio Barrera.
Of the two Pacquiao has fought the tougher matches in the last few years. He has stepped up to the 147lbs division and taken Miguel Cotto’s and Joshua Clottey’s scalps. An ominous warning for Mayweather.
Mosley almost did the unthinkable on Saturday and drop the former multi-weight champion with a right hand in the second, had it been Pacquiao it would have been followed up by a lightning combination, it that’s sort of challenge the public want to see Money try and deal with. Mayweather has never been tested with the velocity of shots Pacquiao can deliver but, at the same time, can Pacquiao burst through Money’s awesome defence?
They have common ground with mutual opponents. Pacquiao was more emphatic in his victory over De la Hoya, but by then “Golden Boy” was shot and although the Mayweather bout was tighter it could be the one that sent him over the edge. A similar situation with Juan Marquez, Mayweather beat him in a comfortable points display while Pacquiao edged a split decision in a re-match following a draw. Then there was poor old Ricky Hatton, who got out boxed by Money and out-powered by Pacquiao but was not at his best for either fight.
Mayweather is now 33 and Pacman, 31 they need to make this fight happen soon or they, ironically, will both be past their peaks. There is no question that for both men it would be a career-defining fight and an acid test for quality.
It sounds like things are progressing but nothing is certain in boxing and you couldn’t confirm anything until the ink has dried on the contract.
If they don’t they are denying fans one of the biggest match-ups in boxing in history and also denying themselves a place in boxing folklore.
Well maybe not Mayweather, in his head he is already the greatest champion, fighter and human being to ever walk the face of the planet.
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