By Babatis Banda: This is an opportunity to put this issue to rest. For numerous times, Manny Pacquiao has himself claimed it’s not about the money, but about the fans.
For the greater part of the last five years we have gotten accustomed to some sections of the fans calling Floyd Mayweather Jr a runner and a coward and others calling Pacquiao a cheater and a loser. We all agreed that at some point the ego of the two got into the way of the fight.
It would be an understatement to say that Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum had a hand in the fight not happening. Rather, Arum is the reason why I personally believe the fight has not happened up to now. The simple fact is that if Pacquiao had lost to Floyd when he was clearly on the down side, it would have badly hurt Pacquiao’s money-making potential. The fact that Pacquiao and his fans can still talk about Floyd, keeps them in the game.
Consider the kind of pay-per-view that Pacquiao made in his last fight with Chris Algeri last November, a no name opponent going into the fight. It was rumored to be in the region of 350,000 PPVs. I think this whole scenario benefits Arum more than any other person because he can feed Pacquiao with fodder opposition to build his name to remain relevant by mentioning Floyd’s name each time he fights. It is clear here that Floyd is the A-side and there is no question who gets the lion’s share of the stakes, for the same reason Juan Manuel Marquez could not negotiate a 50-50 cut with Pacquiao.
If Pacquiao misses this opportunity to make the last big cash for himself and his promoter Arum, he should forever stay silent. Since when did Saul “Canelo” Alvarez become a factor to unseat the biggest star of the sport for a fighting date? Why now? It was the stadium the last time, and now it is the date. How can Canelo prevent the biggest fight that people have waited for, for five solid years?
For those that have always found something to criticize Floyd on, call on Pacquiao and Arum to live-up to their rhetoric and make the fight happen this coming May, or forever shut up.
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