?Any fool can make history, but it takes a genius to write it.? (Oscar Wilde)
If there is a lone arbiter ? one that can never be doubted whatever the naysayers declare ? it is this: history is the only judge that will determine whether Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather will rise into the olympus of boxing greatness, or will traverse into the vanishing sunset. Both fighters are at the height of their present-greatness because of their excellent boxing skills and the will to win. And although their styles are miles apart, their performance on top of the ring speaks volumes and entices the public imagination.
While Pacquiao is a buzzsaw that punches on all angles and darts in and out at will while hitting his opponents comprehensively, Mayweather waits and creates opening for him to time his rivals, launch an attack and back off before he gets hit. Pacquiao is an eat-all-you-can type that is why he garnered the monicker Pacman. Mayweather is more of a fine diner, a connoisseur. This invites a good mix, a boxing bonanza, true pound-for-pound battle.
That is the reason why the fight has to be made. Not for money, not for fame, not for anything self-serving but as a major apex in the history of boxing. This fight ? if ever made ? will define not just our generation; above all, it will demonstrate the science and brutality of this beautiful sport. It is an appreciation of a spectacle that articulates the will of the human spirit, the finite dimensions of the physical and the infinite exhibition of strategy. The protagonists will encapsulate all of these virtues and lay it all out in the ring.
The Pacquiao-Mayweather fight has reached a crescendo that it already transcended all imaginable boundaries. Except that it still has to be made. The chase is maddening and the capture is elusive. The sportswriters are looking at all the angles while the public waits rather impatiently. Arum and Schaefer are frantic. Freddie Roach bides while Jeff Mayweather does the same. I can imagine Alex Ariza cooking his Pacquiao recipes now. I can also imagine Mayweather?s bodyguards toning their bodies in the gym while waiting for a call from their big boss. The economics of this fight is crazy.
Above and beyond this craziness, there are only two names that will emerge, two names that will make or break, two names who will decide: Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather.
Will history pair these two names the way Ali vs. Frazier was? The way Leonard vs. Duran was? The way Holyfield vs. Tyson was?
The fight is their ticket to immortality, without which they will both deprive themselves of the banquet of greatness. Thus, it matters little who wins or loses.
Frazier is as great to me as Ali. It is not true that history will remember only the winners. The public adores the loser as much as the winner, for the one does not exist without the other. The battle is not fought all alone otherwise it is not termed as such. Mayweather?s 0 does not even matter; when he risks his nil-loss record, fans in this and the succeeding generation would have understood the sacrifices he had made to make it atop the boxing ladder.
Pacquiao?s 7-division title matters less too; he fought lesser gods and only in the conquest of Mayweather could he say that he snatched the thunder from the hand of Zeus. Ditto for Mayweather.
It is destiny that puts these two warriors side by side. Not all boxers can lay claim to this eventuality. Not all boxers can have their fight synonymous to Ali vs. Frazier.
The crossroads has come. May thy wills ? Pacquiao and Mayweather ? be done.
