Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather is the biggest rivalry in boxing today. It is Ali-Frazier, Lewis-Tyson, Magic-Bird, McEnroe-Borg, Yankees-Red Sox, Michigan-Ohio State, Canadiens-Bruins all in one. Words can?t describe how important it is for this fight to happen.
A lot of people have come to believe that Pacquiao vs. Mayweather will never happen because, of course, Mayweather lacks the confidence/is totally psyched out ? and as the late great Archie Moore once said, ?The worst feeling in the world is when you are in a fight and you know you can?t win.?
But there are significant reasons to believe Pacquiao vs. Mayweather will eventually happen and I will explain my theory why. Right now, Mayweather is sitting idle, waiting and hoping for Pacquiao to lose. A Pacquiao loss would opent he door for Floyd to return to boxing and flaunt himself as the pound for pound best. HBO would have to show Floyd, who will have all the leverage again and would be able to handpick any opponent he wants.
Though Mayweather claims he doesn?t want to make his return to the ring just yet, I believe he actually does. Because earlier this year, Mayweather was widely reported to be trying to set up a ?fight? with Paul Spadafora however nothing came of it. Except for earlier this month, Team Spadafora confirmed to the media that there were talks with Team Mayweather and they were upset to be left hanging for three months by Team Mayweather.
This was very interesting because it suggests that Team Mayweather indeed tried to handpick Spadafora as Floyd?s opponent but something with those plans must have gone wrong ? such as perhaps HBO telling Team Mayweather, ?No, we reject this fight and will not invest in it.?
Without HBO support, Mayweather must to sit and wait. Then, word leaked that Mayweather was hoping Shane Mosley would beat Pacquiao and even gave advice for Mosley on how to win the fight. But of course Pacquiao prevented that from happening. The latest new is that now we are seeing Floyd emerge back into the public eye, or out of ?hiding? from Pacquiao as many ring observers believe.
By doing those ?Mayweather After Dark? videos with Fighthype.com, Mayweather seems to be attempting to rebuild his image by showing a kinder, gentler, more mature side of himself, while at the same time reinforcing his position of blocking the Pacquiao fight by any means necessary.
You can almost sense a hint of sympathy from Mayweather who says the fight would be a no-win situation for him. Obviously Mayweather does not want to deal with the severe backlash and scrutiny of being the bad guy on the same world stage with the beloved Saint-like Pacquiao. It?s not an enviable position for any human being to be put in, especially a cowardly one who privately fears being brutally knocked out by Pacquiao. Floyd also says it?s not about money any more, but more about health and taking care of his family.
Another twist in this scenario is that Mayweather might now be suffering from money problems, despite his ostentatious public bragging and flaunting about how much money he has. There were reports that Floyd owes back taxes and it?s well known that there will also be considerable costs to pay for all the legal expenses for his upcoming court cases against the former girlfriend, security guards and others.
Recently, a source revealed to me that he has heard that Mayweather was loaned between $10 and $10 million by a wealthy sugar daddy type protective figure. Could it be true ? and that Mayweather is actually under enormous financial pressure right now despite his public posturing to the contrary? Absolutely, when you consider how many lies Mayweather has told in the past. You have to take everything Floyd says with a grain of salt.
Another interesting thing Floyd recently said was that he moves when he wants to move, nobody tells him what to do. This almost seemed to be Floyd talking directly to the powers that be at HBO, who we have to suspect must be pressuring Floyd, in private of course, to just man-up already and fight Pacquiao and get it over with.
If Pacquiao can continue winning, a breaking point will eventually come and Mayweather, after the legal issues are dealt with, is going to need to fight and make money. If Pacquiao can win his next three or four fights, which he most likely will, Mayweather will be cornered.
A key to this will be HBO simply must not relent and give in to Mayweather. Perhaps Bob Arum can ensure this. Presumably, HBO wants to bring Pacquiao back to it?s airwaves after the appearance on SHOWTIME to fight Mosley, which resulted in HBO losing out on multi-millions in profits. Pacquiao is a major cash cow for any network, a money making machine. Perhaps Arum could be tempted to bring Pacquiao back to HBO under the condition that HBO will promise Arum they will NOT fund any more Mayweather handpicked fights, tune-ups for whatever.
This would completely corner Mayweather into checkmate. Though he boasts himself as his own boss, Mayweather is actually nothing without HBO support.
If this general theory plays out then it?s just a matter of time before Mayweather will be forced to enter the ring and fight the fight the whole world has been demanding for almost two years. There are many signs and hints to suggest that, like the Lewis-Tyson fight, which required years and years of ducking, dodging and roadblocks, Pacquiao vs. Mayweather will happen eventually because, like Oscar De La Hoya has said, ?It has to happen, there?s just too much money involved.?
