Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao may well be the most lucrative fight of all time, but the actual battle failed to please fans and the media.
The consensus is that if Mayweather vs. Pacquiao had happened between 2008 and 2012, one of the sport’s most exhilarating spectacles would have occurred for everyone’s enjoyment. The event, hammered in the press for years, could have gone down three years earlier than it eventually did.
Mayweather began 2012 with Pacquiao’s name firmly on his hit list. That was until personal events caught up with him and took away his freedom. As a prison sentence loomed at the beginning of the year, Pacquiao knew his time wouldn’t come and moved on.
As Mayweather aimed to negotiate a deal with the authorities to fight before he went to jail, he lined up Miguel Cotto as his only bout of 2012. Pacquiao announced the pair would be staving off negotiations and opted to face Timothy Bradley in the most controversial result of his career.
At the time, Pacquiao explained how the talks had gone down.
“It went OK. The talk about negotiations proceeds forward. We said that 50/50 was approved, and there was no problem. [We can fight] anytime. It is in your [Mayweather] hands. But we will wait if that’s OK with you.”
Surprisingly, Mayweather disagreed with Pacquiao’s harmonious notion.
“I am fighting Cotto on May 5 because ‘Miss Pacman’ is ducking me,” he said.
Mayweather already knew jail time was coming and pleaded for a stay of execution to face Cotto before serving his sentence. Promoter Bob Arum had suggested they could re-negotiate upon Mayweather’s release from prison. To continue the earlier negotiations for the two-belt unification clash everyone wanted to see.
However, the five-weight world champion was ordered into the custody of law enforcement four weeks after defeating Cotto at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Mayweather served a 90-day term handed down to him by Justice of the Peace Melissa Saragosa. He wanted a break from the sport when the five-weight world champion was released.
Pacquiao then confirmed the Bradley bout for June 9, occurring at the same venue as Mayweather vs Cotto. In one of the most heinous miscarriages of justice, Pacquiao lost to Bradley via a contentious split decision. Anyone with one eye open could have seen that Pacquiao dominated the fight and won at least eight rounds on the night. Sadly, as happens in boxing more than in other sports, the right man didn’t win.
Having dusted himself down, Pacquiao then pushed the loss – his first in seven years – aside. He agreed to battle long-time rival Juan Manuel Marquez in a lucrative fourth encounter.
On December 8, 2012 – in a year that could have seen the Mayweather fight occur if it wasn’t for a jail sentence, Pacquiao was taken out by the punch heard around the world. Never in his career had Pacquiao been wiped out so brutally as he lay prone on the canvas unconscious.
Those twelve months could have been so different and rewarding for the sport. However, the promise of a Mayweather fight was eventually the most punishing of Pacquiao’s career.
Mayweather returned on May 4, 2013, against Robert Guerrero but wouldn’t trade blows with Pacquiao for another two years. When it did hear the first bell, Mayweather vs Pacquiao was a complete disappointment.
