Pacquiao Not Likely to Face Mayweather in 2009

By Manuel Perez: Well, according to the latest boxing news, it appears doubtful that Manny Pacquiao will be fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr. in 2009, says Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum. Instead, it looks as if Miguel Cotto, Shane Mosley, or Edwin Valero will be next up for the Filipino star. Since Pacquiao wants to get the huge payday that a bout with Mayweather will give to him, it’s doubtful that Cotto or Mosley are in the picture for 2009 either.

Both of them are dangerous opponents for Pacquiao to fight. Right now, Pacquiao is seen as unbeatable by many boxing fans who were impressed with his back to back victories over Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton, but those wins are more telling about what Hatton and De La Hoya had left in their tanks rather than how good Pacquiao really is as a fighter in my view.

Perhaps a better indication of how good Pacquiao is would be Manny’s fight with Juan Manuel Marquez last year in 2008, which ended with Pacquiao winning by a 12-round split decision. I had Marquez winning the fight by at least two rounds at a minimum. That’s not a good thing for Pacquiao if he’s considering facing bigger fighters like Mosley and Cotto, who have more power than the smaller Marquez.

Arum says that Mayweather won’t be getting a bigger cut of the purse split when he and Pacquiao fight. Even 50-50 won’t be happening he says. Mayweather, however, says that he’s not going to take the smaller percentage and wants the bigger share because he sees himself as the bigger PPV draw.

Going by Mayweather’s fights with Hatton and De La Hoya, it would seem that Mayweather is the bigger draw compared to Pacquiao in his fights with both of those stars. While Arum might think that Manny is the bigger draw, I think Mayweather is, even with the time off from boxing.

That’s why hopefully Arum and Pacquiao see the light so that this fight can be made. In the end, though, the fight may come down to whether Arum is willing to give in to Mayweather, because right now he doesn’t appear to be interested in giving Mayweather a 50-50 purse split and thinks that Floyd is “delusional” with his requests for more money.

I doubt Mayweather will want to give in and take the smaller percentage of the cake, because he knows how popular he is as a fighter and likely won’t want to give into Arum on this. Mayweather already took the smaller cut in his fight with Oscar De La Hoya, despite being the better fighter at the time of the fight.

Now, though, with Mayweather the unbeaten fighter with the better record and with the better PPV numbers in his fights with Hatton and De La Hoya, he won’t want to give in to a fighter that he feels isn’t at the same level as him in terms of popularity with boxing fans. I know I wouldn’t take less than 60% if I were Mayweather.

Arum will be looking to choose an opponent for Pacquiao sometime after June 13th. Presently, Valero, Cotto and Mosley are the main names that Manny is looking to fight next. Look for Pacquiao to choose the easy fight over Valero next. Cotto and Mosley would probably be way too dangerous for Pacquiao.

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