As long as there are opponents that can stand up for a few rounds and have a pulse, both Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather still have more options than fighting each other.
If they can earn $15 – $25 million by taking easier fights, they will. It’s smart business.
If they fight each other, they each may take home $40 million in one night, and if the fight is competitive enough for the public to demand a rematch, then they have really hit a home run.
Of course by delaying, they run the risk of injury, and losing to a lessor opponent.
“The Fight” is hot right now though. It’s percolating. I feel it in every letter to the editor I read and on my comments page.
How many new fans are they going to find? This is why I want “The Fight,” if it’s going to happen at all, to happen in November.
Each fighter will have an opportunity to be heard through their negotiations and that will be the end of it.
When I was growing up and a young fight fan, the big fight I wanted to see was Larry Holmes against Gerry Cooney. That fight was delayed for a few years due to legitimate injuries and some nasty negotiations.
Along the way champion Holmes was dropped by Earnie Shavers and in the tune-up fight before Cooney by Reynaldo Snipes.
Holmes vs. Cooney finally happened in June of 1982 and I don’t know if I ever saw the best Gerry Cooney because he was always injured and he didn’t fight much after that but they finally had to put up or shut up and make the fight.
With the election behind Pacquiao now, he might find it within himself to just make major concessions against the advice given him by advisers and his promoter just to please his fans and that would be a shame if the fight is made under circumstances that give Mayweather competitive and financial advantages.
I believe Mayweather listens to his advisers to closely and has lost sense with reality so I don’t know what to expect from him under any given circumstances. He’s less likely to cave in to demands than Pacquiao in my opinion.
