Pacquiao not giving up – he wants Mayweather

By Boxing News - 06/28/2012 - Comments

Image: Pacquiao not giving up - he wants MayweatherBy John F. McKenna (McJack): It seems like a bad dream that never ends. Reportedly former World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao (54-4-2, 38 KO’s) is still intent on fighting undefeated WBA light middleweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (43-0, 26 KO’s) before he hangs up his boxing gloves for a career in politics.

Just when almost everyone had pretty much given up on the idea of ever seeing the two superstars engaging each other in the ring, Manny is entertaining the thought of making the fight against Mayweather happen. Pacquiao met with Top Rank CEO Bob Arum in Los Angeles on Tuesday prior to flying to Paris for a family vacation. The purpose of the get together between Pacquiao and Arum was to discuss possible future opponents for Manny.

Obviously the name of WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley (29-0-1 NC, 12 KO’s) came up. The disappointing Pay Per View (PPV) sales of 900,000 for the June 9 fight between Pacquiao and Bradley however may doom any rematch between the two.
By contrast the Pacquiao – Marquez fight last fall drew 1.4 million in PPV sales or half a million more than Pacquiao – Bradley. At roughly sixty dollars a pop times the half a million more sales for the Marquez fight makes it is easy to see why Arum would want to match “Pacman” against Marquez rather than go for another match with Bradley.

Let’s face it the vast majority of boxing fans feel that Pacquiao already decisively defeated Bradley on June 9. And to be honest the first fight was not all that entertaining.
The rap against Bradley has always been that he does not produce excitement in the ring and historically he has had problems drawing fans to watch his fights.

Pacquiao attorney Franklin Gacal states that first and foremost Manny is pushing for a fight with the now incarcerated Mayweather. Pacquiao feels that a victory over “Money May” would cap off his brilliant career. A 45% – 45% split has been proposed with the winner receiving an extra 10% of the pot. Floyd’s last offer to Manny was a take it or leave it $40 million with Mayweather to keep all of the PPV revenue for himself. The Pacquiao – Mayweather fight if it ever happens is expected to draw in roughly $150 million in PPV revenue. Mayweather’s offer to Pacquiao was seen by many boxing observers as an indication that Floyd really does not want the fight.

Pacquiao, however is still hoping against hope that he can somehow lure Mayweather into the ring. In the past there has always been one stumbling block after another to prevent the fight from happening. More than likely Floyd will continue to come up with obstacles to prevent the fight from ever happening. The best predictor of future behavior is to chart ones past behavior. At this stage of his career Floyd is showing some signs of slowing down. It is highly unlikely that he will do anything to jeopardize his “0” by taking on any opponent who is a real threat.



Comments are closed.