The desperate fragility of the Philippines in the face of nature?s most destructive forces is not only inspiring the biggest aid effort in human history but reviving the flickering hope that Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather could yet meet in the ring.
If their long-overdue meeting was to be a fight for the long-term future of the Philippine people it would be almost impossible for either of the world?s two greatest boxers ? or perhaps more importantly their teams of corporate advisors – to continue to resist.
The prospect of raising $200million ? at the very least ? to help rebuild the lives of victims of typhoon Haiyan would surely transcend the petty bickering over money, drugs testing and control over the event which have prevented the richest fight of all time from happening up to now.
The PacMan and the Money Man would have no excuse for failing to get it on.
Pacquiao?s position ? as a Filipino idol and prospective president of that country ? would guarantee his participation.
Not only would Mayweather be facing an offer he would find monstrously difficult to refuse but here would be his rationale for conceding that he needs to fight Pacquiao to apply the final trowel of cement to his formidable legacy.
Of course there are significant obstacles to be overcome before the ‘Fight of the Century’ can take place.
To begin with, if Pacquiao is to re-emerge from that alarming knock-out by Juan Manuel Marquez as the one genuine challenger to Mayweather?s standing as the best pound-for-pound boxer on earth, he has to beat Brandon Rios in Macau this Saturday night.
That is not the easiest of tasks, since Rios is young, dangerous and hungry for world titles of his own.
Yet while the disaster in the Philippines could be a damaging distraction for Pacquiao ? and his esteemed trainer Freddie Roach has warned him of such ? his motivation has surely become all the stronger.
Pacquiao was eager to leave training camp so as to visit the people who he hopes, one day soon, will elect him as their political leader. He was persuaded that given his iconic status among that population, as a fighter, the most uplifting gesture he could give them would be victory over Rios.
Filipinos watch their PacMan?s fights on television in their tens of millions and, even with communications systems as severely damaged as everything else in the country, they will find some way to follow his next exploit.
Even assuming he wins, it will take more time and effort to build Mayweather-Pacquiao into an enormous fund-raiser as well as the most gigantic event in the annals of boxing.
Pacquiao will need more fights to fully re-establish his pound-for-pound credentials and his promoter, Bob Arum, is scheduling the next for April, perhaps in China.
