Did Floyd Mayweather get Bob Arum to play right into his hands? Is “Money” now the one holding all the cards now that the Team Manny’s deadline has passed? 411’s Joe Roche examines that very angle in the latest edition of The Way I See It!
Recently I’ve gone through a great deal of transition, I’ve started a new job, I’ve moved, I’ve bought a puppy ? frankly my life has been in constant turmoil for the better part of two plus months and as a result of that it’s been very difficult to pull together the motivation to write this column. That hurdle was a simple one to clear this week, and we can thank Bob Arum for that.
The veritable Uncle Bob staged a little charade this past week with a midnight (3 a.m.) teleconference to announce that Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s time had passed and the superfight with Manny Pacquiao would not take place. It was designed as Arum holding Mayweather’s feet to the fire ? but it came off as a desperate attempt by a desperate man to try and regain some semblance of balance in the on-again/off-again negotiations between the Mayweather Camp and the Pacquiao Camp.
Many people out there love to hate Floyd Mayweather Jr. and they found the deadline passing as further proof that Mayweather is a coward, and that he simply won’t fight the best in the world ? he doesn’t want to put his zero up against the Pac-Man because he cherishes that zero above all else. Those people are wrong, and I’m going to tell you why.
The Way I See It: It’s simple really. Was there anyone in the world who honestly thought that Bob Arum’s artificial deadline would motivate Mayweather to sign his name to a dotted line? Did anyone out there think that Mayweather would be bullied? That “Money” May would allow himself to be pushed into signing a contract before he was damn good and ready? If you answered yes to any of those questions then you’re a bigger loon then I could have possibly imagined ? congratulations on finding the internet, and even further congratulations on having a library card.
Floyd Mayweather Jr. was never going to respond to Bob Arum, and Bob Arum knew it.
But he needed to try something to save some face, and I’ll walk you through why this last ditch effort to remain somewhat powerful in this “negotiation” failed miserably to the point where I’m wondering if Uncle Bob’s best days might have flown off into the sunset somewhere.
It started with the initial Mayweather ? Pacquiao negotiations.
Floyd said Olympic style drug testing. Pacquiao said no. So Floyd walked away ? said he would not fight Pacquiao without Olympic style testing.
When the two sides reconvened Team Pacquiao said they’d adhere to testing as soon as 14 days prior to the fight, no sooner and no later. They put their foot down. Mayweather laughed and left the Filipino standing at the altar. He would not be dictated to by the Pacquiao team.
So the two fighters went their separate ways, though we always knew that they’d get back together someday. When the time finally came for the two sides to negotiate for the mega fight to end all mega fights, suddenly blood and urine testing was off the table. Pacquiao agreed to whatever stipulation Mayweather wanted, he was game to fight regardless of the terms.
So in all aspects of the earlier negotiations Floyd got what he wanted.
But he still didn’t sign.
This wasn’t about fear ? this was about swinging dicks. This was about one fighter, one man saying to the boxing world, to Bob Arum and to Manny Pacquiao that one of us is the alpha dog and the other is a puppy trying to rile up the big dog daddy.
So Floyd smiled, nodded his head, and went back to his roller skates. He started talking about retirement, and about spending more time with his family and kids. At this point one thing should have become abundantly clear to Bob Arum ? Floyd Mayweather Jr. will sign to fight Manny Pacquiao when Floyd Mayweather Jr. damned well pleases.
So Arum tried to take the upper hand ? but he played his cards too early and he left Mayweather in the driver’s seat. What we know for sure is that Pacquiao will fight on November 13th. From this past Saturday that meant that Pacquiao will return to the ring in seventeen (17) weeks. Assuming that Pacquiao needs an 8 week training camp he’ll need to report to Freddie Roach sometime around September 18th, or essentially two months from this past Saturday night.
Lets assume for the sake of argument that Pacquiao wants a ten week camp to prepare for his next opponent (an unlikely scenario if it’s Cotto who I imagine he’s already well prepped for), that means that we’re still about 6 or 7 weeks away from the point where Pacquiao even needs to get back to camp.
Bob Arum himself even admitted once the deadline had passed ? that if Floyd came back to the table the fight would be back on. The alternate fights won’t be hard to schedule because Cotto and Margarito fight under the Top Rank banner so assuming the two (one) sides need 2 days to work out the logistics you’re still looking at sometime around September 11th for Pacquiao and Mayweather to make a deal.
Mayweather knew this time table.
So he sat back, let the deadline pass ? and then told everyone not only did he not realize that Arum had instituted the deadline (lets forget for a second that a deadline that doesn’t close a door isn’t really a deadline), but that his team hadn’t even begun to negotiate with Top Rank about a Pacquiao fight.
Basically Mayweather laughed in Top Rank’s face ? and they couldn’t do a thing about it because they backed themselves into this corner. They went to the river with no hand and Mayweather called their bluff.
Top Rank, Bob Arum and Manny Pacquiao have bent over backwards to make a fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr., and Floyd hasn’t lifted a finger. Floyd has done precisely what the big dog is supposed to do ? he has forced the other side to show their hand before he’s even drawn a card.
The first round of Pacquiao ? Mayweather has gone to Mayweather and it’s been a decisive victory.
Floyd now knows that Top Rank is just sitting back and waiting to satisfy his every whim, and why not ? they’ve done everything they can to draw him out of hiding to this point and he hasn’t had to so much as call the Top Rank offices.
Please someone tell me how Mayweather has been exposed here?
Mayweather is a criminal mastermind ? Top Rank, Bob Arum and Manny Pacquiao look like desperate children trying to get the attention of their older brother. Mayweather wants blood testing, Mayweather gets blood testing. Arum wants a deadline, Mayweather says no ? so Arum says the door remains open if Mayweather wants the fight to happen. Mayweather says jump, Top Rank says how high. It’s comical in its absurdity because due to the nature of Floyd Mayweather Jr., Top Rank and Co. have convinced people that they’re winning this fight when they’ve been throwing punches from their back on the mat for two rounds.
Make no mistake about it ? Floyd Mayweather Jr. will dictate when and if Floyd Mayweather fights Manny Pacquiao and the only thing that this past week has shown us is that Manny Pacquiao will be waiting when “Money” Mayweather comes out of his Vegas Palace and makes his choice of next opponent, just like everyone else. Floyd Mayweather has accomplished his ultimate goal ? he has made Manny Pacquiao just like everyone else ? just lining up for the chance to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr.
