If HBO Sports president Ross Greenburg lets the inmates run this asylum this time, then we may never see Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao collide.
I mean collide with their gloves laced up and coming out of opposite corners.
Greenburg must take the bulls by the horns in this nonsensical situation in which both Pacman and Mayweather could BOTH be fighting on March 13.
If he doesn’t use his considerable financial muscle to get either fighter to switch (dates vwhy not have Mayweather fight March 20?) then trying to make Floyd-Manny next fall will become more of a hornet’s nest than the just wrecked negotiations were.
Remember, and I see that embedded Mayweather hometown correspondent David “Hold The” Mayo in Grand Rapids agrees with me on this, that the talks that crashed and burned over a preflight random blood testing cutoff date was a single issue deadlock.
If they bang heads competitively from different venues, Dallas for Manny and Vegas for Floyd on March 13, we may go back to Square One.
Going head to head will reopen the money split issue, with the 50-50 revenue deal going out the window. Someone, probably Pacquiao, is going to “win” the live gate and PPV buy rate race whether it’s on the same night or a week apart.
Mayweather agreed that their final preflight blood exam could take place 14 days before the bout while Bob Arum, Pacman’s point man, stood firm on 24 days.
I know you could easily split the 10 day difference here and we could’ve had the Big One happening four days before the Blessed Day of St. Patrick but why inject reason into this?
Having a 19 day cutoff would’ve been too easy a solution for these cavedwellers.
It’s likely, with enough hard work, that Joshua Clottey-Pacquiao can become a sizzling event with Top Rank’s hype machine having the assistance of the mighty Dallas Cowboy organization standing shoulder to shoulder with them.
Stadium fights are a rarity and the hoopla should be Texas sized from the get go.
But will be there be a real buzz with Money May fighting a Paulie Malignaggi, a Paul Williams or anyone else at the MGM Grand?
No, it will be just another boxing show albeit one topped by the undefeated Mayweather. Neither Yo Paulie nor Tall Paul are natural or grudge foes for L’il Floyd.
Neither one of those guys can carry a PPV show on their own. There’s no Mayweather magic in him fighting either one.
If ever there was a time for HBO to assert itself, it is right now.
If Greenburg and his crew don’t, it’s at the peril of a more knotted situation in trying to remake this big bout.
