In a recent report on ESPN, Floyd Mayweather Jr. reached out to Manny Pacquiao with a “genuine” attempt to make the highly anticipated mega-fight happen sooner rather than later.
According to “Money”, the Filipino Congressman claimed to show interest in fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr on the recommended May 5th date if the purse was divided equally with a 50/50 split. Little Floyd acknowledged the request and stated, “50/50 can’t happen, but what can happen is that you can make more money fighting me than you’ve ever made in your entire career.”
As most boxing scribes have reported since 2009, Floyd Mayweather has been a very difficult man to please when attempting to negotiate the terms of a potential super fight with Manny Pacquiao.
In 2009, Floyd Jr. originally made stipulations of Olympic style drug testing during the initial stages of fight negotiations with Manny Pacquiao and his promoter Top Rank Boxing. This resulted in a defamation suit filed by the Filipino icon against Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Sr., as well as various representatives of Team Mayweather.
In 2010, Mayweather created another stipulation stating that Manny Pacquiao would not be allowed to train in the Philippines in preparation for their upcoming bout after Pacquiao had reportedly agreed to a 14 day testing window. In 2011, Floyd Jr. rejected a $50 Million offer made by Bob Arum, founder and CEO of Top Rank Boxing, and countered the Hall of Fame promoter’s offer with a request for the unlikely sum of $100 Million USD.
With very few realistic options for an alternative fight candidate for May 5th, and an ensuing 90 day jail term which will begin on June 1st, why would Floyd Mayweather demand more than an equal share of the fighters’ purse if the pound for pound fighter genuinely desired a fight with Manny Pacquiao?
Does he really feel that he deserves to make more money than Manny Pacquiao should the two ever meet in the ring? The Filipino icon was deemed the most widely searched athlete in the world by Google and has generated the largest number of pay per view dollars over the last three years.
With the amount of options currently in Manny Pacquiao’s forecast, it makes absolutely no sense why “Money” Mayweather would “bid” himself out of realistic contention for a potential bout with the most popular fighter in the world.
Recently, it was deemed popular sentiment that Floyd genuinely wanted to make a fight with the eight division champion on May 5th.
Earlier this month, Floyd Mayweather Jr. made certain comments on Twitter which induced hope into the prospect of a true super fight being made for 2012:
“Manny Pacquiao, I’m calling you out. Let’s fight on May 5th and give the world what they want to see. My jail sentence was pushed back because the date was locked in. Step up, Punk.”
What is the reason for such hypocrisy? Is Floyd Mayweather being genuine when demanding a May 5th date with Manny Pacquiao or is he simply creating a false perception after using the date with the Filipino rock star as an excuse to prolong his freedom?
Only the man who goes by the money moniker truly knows.
