Remember that old refrain: ?Why are we waiting, oh why are we waiting?? It is one the world of boxing has been humming these past few days ? actually, more like weeks, months, years.
We are still waiting for Floyd Mayweather Jnr and Manny Pacquiao to get it on. Deadlines have passed and so far nothing has happened. I have long doubted it will.
It is still some distance away from being a done deal, whatever anyone says. The word was the $300m (?196m) welterweight Super Fight would be announced during Sunday?s Super Bowl, before a captive TV audience of 100 million. But not a peep. Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao The world has long been waiting for a fight between the two
Mayweather is soaking up the Caribbean sun in Jamaica, tweeting (below): ?Laying back, relaxing, enjoying good weather, palm trees, and pina coladas. While they continue to lie about making the fight… I?m just going to continue to travel and explore the world on my private jet. #FightNotMadeYet.? Doesn?t sound like a man in a hurry to get the gloves back on, does it?
They say this is an event that was destined to happen but it has turned into a five-and-a-half-year soap opera. Yet even though one combatant is 38, the other 36, some say arguably past their peak, it is still potentially the biggest fight out there; indeed, of all time.
After the much-publicised encounter between the megastars in Pacquiao?s Miami hotel suite last week negotiations have hit a wall. Even Pacquiao?s promoter Bob Arum, who trenchantly claims they have signed off their side of the deal, admits time is running out, as both men need to start moving into training camps for the proposed 2 May date at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
?We need to get this done,? says Bob. ?There are issues that should be solved in 10 minutes, but it?s a slow dance. We send one draft to their side and their lawyer sends back a draft with something else that?s an issue. And there doesn?t seem to be any urgency about it on their side. It?s crazy.?
So what are the problems? One is over the delayed television rights. The Money Man and Pacman are contracted to rival networks, Showtime and HBO respectively, and while both channels have agreed to joint live screening on pay-per-view (as they did only once before, when Lennox Lewis fought Mike Tyson) there is a rumour of unresolved arguments over who gets the lucrative rights for the delayed broadcast.
