Boxing archrivals Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. may not have shared a ring but they have been engaging the other in a constant strings of battles outside the squared circle. Mayweather, at a time the consensus pound-for-pound best fighter in the planet, found himself replaced by Pacquiao when the former went on his first hiatus after his 10-round TKO victory over then undefeated Ricky Hatton of England in December 2007.
Mayweather?s sudden retirement from the sport scuttled the planned rematch with Oscar dela Hoya in 2008, who lost to Mayweather via split decision in May 2007. Alone and without an opponent, Dela Hoya picked Pacquiao as a replacement fighter in a fight where Pacquiao. The fight took place on December 2008, with Pacquiao virtually ending Dela Hoya?s career inside eight brutal and punishing rounds.
The win further stamped Pacquiao?s legitimacy as the pound-for-pound best boxer, a mythical diadem Mayweather held a year earlier. Since then, Mayweather and his cohorts attacked Pacquiao, with the American claiming he is the boxing?s cash cow and the PPV-buys generator.
Although the argument may hold some water, Pacquiao held his own status as a legit PPV attraction, figuring in a number of events that generated more than a million buys. But Pacquiao?s upcoming WBO welterweight title clash with Juan Manuel Marquez on November 12th, 2011, may finally give Pacquiao the avenue to beat Mayweather in the PPV numbers arena and finally gain the upper hand in future negotiations, should both camps come together at the discussion table again.
