For those of you who actually believed that Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao were actually going to fight on November 13th, there?s a lovely bridge for sale in Brooklyn.
After the first scheduled fight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather fell apart, supposedly due to an inability of both camps to come to terms with the type of blood testing that Floyd wanted, Manny went off to fight Joshua Clottey and Floyd went on to fight Shane Mosley.
Classifying what Clottey did against Pacquiao as ?fighting? is a stretch and, except for an exciting second round where Mosley was a punch away from dropping Mayweather, that fight was a snore-fest as well.
But both of those fights got a tremendous amount of free publicity because they got caught up in the aftermath of the hoopla that was Mayweather vs. Pacquiao and they both did big pay-per-view numbers.
And, lo and behold, after those two fights raked in millions of dollars, it was announced that the mega-fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao was back on.
As Gomer Pyle used to say, ?Surprise, surprise, surprise!?
Given the vast wasteland that is boxing today, once that announcement was made- and there was actually something worthwhile to write about- there wasn?t a boxing website you could go to that didn?t have something running about the fight.
The publicity that was generated was priceless.
Just like the first time.
And then suddenly, some deadline came and went and the fight was called off again!
Just like the first time.
And while the publicity machine was still in high gear, it was announced that Manny Pacquiao will now face Antonio Margarito instead of Mayweather.
Not a bad match-up, actually, but there are those who question whether or not Margarito should get that shot after being caught with Plaster of Paris in his hand wraps prior to his fight with Shane Mosley.
An argument can be made as to whether or not Margarito?s entire record should be expunged, and that the losses that opponents have suffered at his hands should also be erased from their respective records. Others feel that what Margarito did was so cowardly that he should be banned from boxing for life.
He is currently under suspension in California, but Bob Arum has stated, ?We?ll just go and fight in Mexico.?
Which, since boxing is so fragmented, is a major problem within the sport that has been written about and dissected ad nauseum.
And since nothing is ever done about it, it doesn?t make any sense to rail about it again.
Bobby?s just being Bobby.
For the record, Margarito has stated that he didn?t know what his trainer, Javier Capetillo, was doing but you?d have a better chance finding Teddy Atlas and Mike Tyson drinking chocolate milk together while singing ?Kumbaya? then you would finding someone who actually believes that.
As for Mayweather, he could probably not care less.
Floyd?s no dummy and he knows whenever he decides to step into the ring, he?s going to do big numbers as long as his opponent is breathing.
Manny and Floyd are the two biggest draws in boxing so, from a promotional point of view, it makes good business sense to drag this on as long as possible because it builds anticipation.
It also brings frustration but when the fight finally comes off- which it will- that will all go out the window.
This is promotion at its best and it?s really nothing new.
This type of thing has gone on forever in boxing and its purpose is to get the interest level up and to keep it up while making money on all the ?instead? fights.
There is no doubt that Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao will eventually meet in the ring, simply because there is too much money on the table for everyone to walk away. The big question is how much melodrama we all have to go through first. Well fans, you pay the bills, so what do you think?
Allan Scotto can be reached at [email protected]
