Just make the stupid fight already.
The promoters for Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather are playing games, and it’s getting tiresome. Correction: It’s not getting tiresome, it’s beyond tiresome to the point where it would be reasonable for the sporting public to just turn away and say “Who cares?”
True, this would be the biggest bout in boxing history — or at least since the last fight of the century was signed, hyped and fought. Pacquiao is in the zone at this point of his career, and Floyd has looked invincible pretty much from the minute he first laced on gloves. It’s an intriguing matchup, and it could be a great fight (or it could be a boring one, depending on how Pacquaio adjusts to Floyd’s size and power, and on whether Mayweather engages or simply defends). But do these guys really want to fight?
OK, we’re talking about ridiculous money here, and it’s understandable that neither promoter wants to be taken for millions. But c’mon, at some point someone — like, one of the fighters — has to step forward and say, “This is a fight that has to happen. Let’s make it happen.”
This ring showdown figures to put boxing at center stage in the sports world, a place it sees only a few Saturdays a year these days. But really, this protracted posturing is shining a damning spotlight on a sport that is unable to simply dump a pile of cash in front of two guys, divvy it evenly, then say, “Fight!”
Today’s report by ESPN.com’s Dan Rafael feels like the last straw for me. Rafael quotes Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum as saying, “The fight’s off,” and indicating that Manny is moving on and instead will probvably take on junior middleweight champ Yuri Foreman in March.
Now, a Pacquiao-Foreman bout actually could be interesting, if for no other reason than that Manny would be going up another weight class to 154 pounds. He started his career at age 16 as a light flyweight (106 pounds) and has won world titles at seven weight classes. So far.
But after the promoters dangled Manny vs. Floyd in front of us, we’re not going to settle for anything less.
