I don?t see any other way boxing can move forward while these two continue to suck up the sport?s life force without putting much back?
OK?Hear me out.
Let?s figure a way to lure Floyd Mayweather to a luxury yacht in international waters off Venice Beach. Maybe promise him some sort of award for being the ?Best Ever? at something and boast of exclusive TMZ coverage for the event.
We do the same with Manny Pacquiao. Maybe offer some sort of St. Thomas Aquinas award for the most humble super human or make a promise of IRS debt amnesty.
Then, when Mayweather and Pacquiao are on board, the ship would take off to the middle of the Pacific Ocean in search of an uninhabited island where they can both be deposited safely.
We wouldn?t be unduly cruel about this. They?d be exiled for the rest of their days (or until they were beyond the age of competition in any professional sport), but we?d airlift them supplies twice a month via Amazon International and maybe even take specific orders as to what they?d like delivered. That?s the least we could do.
I?d hate to have to do this, but I don?t see any other way boxing can move forward while these two continue to suck up the sport?s life force without putting much back.
Yeah, Mayweather and Pacquiao are the biggest boxing stars of this era and, arguably, the biggest prizefighting stars of all-time. But Mayweather is retired, Pacquiao is absolutely unwilling to wade into deep waters ever again?and both refuse to let go of their grasp on the sport.
There was a time when I was standing tall on the ?Give Floyd and Manny their just due? soapbox. I mean, it was more than a little ridiculous to have boxing writers talk about how bad they were for the sport when they were, almost literally, the only ones doing any real business.
But neither is really in the sport anymore.
Mayweather is grabbing headlines with silly talk of fighting in the UFC and Pacquiao is goofing around on the perimeters of a deep welterweight talent pool, teasing with Jeff Horn, Mike Alvarado, and Lucas Matthysse possibilities rather than considering the guys that matter like Spence, Thurman, and Crawford.
At this point, Floyd and Manny are two personalities who still generate huge amounts of attention and suck up spotlights, but refuse to actually give back to the sport. It?s time to put them some place where they can?t take attention away from those fighting in the here and now.
It?s a shame. Mayweather is the head of MAYWEATHER PROMOTIONS, which is supposedly in the fighter promotion game. And he?s got some quality fighters he could be promoting, too, like Badou Jack and Gervonta Davis?if he wasn?t too busy promoting a silly, not-likely-to-actually-happen MMA bout. Pacquiao, meanwhile, is supposedly still an active fighter, but he?s passed up on a Horn rematch, passed over an Alvarado slaughter, and is currently stuck on a still unconfirmed Malaysian bout with Lucas Matthysse (a decent fighter, but stylistically ill-suited to handle an even 39-year-old Pacquiao riddle).
Both COULD be giving back to the sport that made them wildly wealthy and forever famous, but they refuse to do anything but desperately grasp at their own fame and waning relevance.
It may be too much to ask today?s boxing stars, who maintain enough money and sway to keep calling their own shots until they choose not to?to pass the torch to the next generation of talented, elite-level fighters. But, at the very least, guys like Floyd and Manny can be gracious enough to step aside and stop stealing attention from those who represent the future of the sport.
That?s not likely to happen, though.
So, let?s start scouting for islands in the Pacific Ocean. Maybe put up a small power station and a wifi hook-up so they can at least still do their social media posturing (we?re not heartless monsters looking to take EVERYTHING from them). Let them be as relevant as ex-boxers and semi-retired fighters should be. Then, inform the mainstream world that there are plenty of quality fighters in the sport right now, who are more than worthy of a spotlight.
