I don’t know about the thrill of the greasepaint but I do hear the tumultuous roar of the crowd.
This time, the expression “by public demand,” rings true.
You, the boxing public, don’t want to see Floyd Mayweather Jr. fight Manny Pacquiao.
You demand it. You are banging on the promoters’ tables. And, they unlike some of my media colleagues, are not tone deaf.
As we say on Queens Boulevard, everything else is just chopped liver!
I don’t want to pin the ears on a donkey named Dallas Examiner Matt Stolow but his weighty concerns about Manny being dwarfed by Mayweather are trivial. Giantkillers like Pacquaio don’t worry too much about a few pounds here and there.
That giant ka-ching cash register ring on the Mayweather-Marquez PPV got everyone’s attention.
I don’t think there was such a pent-up demand or desire to watch Mayweather return in what was essentially a tune up bout leading to a match between him and Sugar Shane Mosley.
Not knocking L’il Floyd and Big Shane, it’s a nice domestic variety fight which does not have any of the hot pepper sauce that Manny-Floyd offers.
No, outside the limited, thimble-sized world of the hardcore fight fan, the only fight the public insists on being served up is the Pinoy Idol against the Formerly Devilish But Now Turned Mr. Goodbar Mayweather.
So can we stop with the nonsense about Manny does not “need” Floyd and vice versa?
I even got Manny Minder Bob Arum to admit Mayweather’s sizzling PPV buy rate proves that he is on a par with Pacman, that they are both “A sides” and deserving of a fairly equal revenue split.
OK, Arum didn’t go so far as to say 50-50 but the needle is moving in that direction.
That’s because Manny needs Floyd and Floyd needs Manny.
Their bottom line makes any total revenue for Mosley-Mayweather look like chump change, really.
Yes, Manny is one of them “furriners,” he’s not American but HBO’s Larry Merchant was not off the mark in saying the US public has “adopted” him because he is such a “fireball” in the ring.
ARA MINA (Flickr.com)
Mosley, for all his technical skill at an advanced age, clinches as often as I would if I was trapped inside a small car trunk with Ara Mina.
His style and Mayweather’s could make for a Sominex sleep inducing evening.
Mayweather has already made it painfully clear that he will consider Mosley as an opponent only after he deals with Da Pacman.
Against Pacquiao, Mayweather doesn’t have any worries about quickly selling out the live gate. Against Mosley, they would pack the place but not in such rapid fashion.
And, while we’re we at it, let’s not go overboard about Mayweather’s PPV numbers without putting them in context.
As UFC chieftain Dana White helpfully points out, Floyd-Juan Ma was boxing’s second big pay per view event of 2009.
The other, which took place on May 2, involved Pacquaio and Ricky Hatton. At least I think Hatton was there for almost six minutes.
Pacquaio-Mayweather is a sure thing for 2010.
Manny wants it. Floyd wants it. Their promoters are licking their chops.
The only person who can derail this Money Train is Miguel I’m No Angel Cotto.
Focus, Megamanny, focus.
