Mayweather’s D-Day with Pacman fast AppROACHing

By Boxing News - 04/30/2015 - Comments

1-009_Floyd_MayweatherBy Ryan Allan: There comes a time in any man’s life when he has to stand up, accept his fate and face the music. It might not be what he wanted, it might be the last thing in the world he asked for but in the end it is inescapable.

It’s your destiny, will you stand or fall?; That moment has now arrived for Floyd Mayweather Jnr as he puts his unbeaten record on the line against the people’s champion, Manny Pacquiao in the biggest fight of the century.

After 6 years of talk, after all the hype, after all the yes, no’s and maybes, finally the fight that the public has demanded and craved was agreed in February after a “chance” meeting between the two fighters at a Miami Heat game and following a late night discussion in Pacquiao’s hotel room, the 2 agreed that this was the fight they wanted.

But why now? What changed?

Mayweather of course is protecting an unbeaten record and it had been largely assumed for a good few years now that this fight would never take place due mostly in part to the ego of Mayweather and his desire to protect that “0” until he calls time on what has been a terrific career. But now with both men approaching the end of their lifespan as fighters, the deal was done and the biggest event in sports history (from a financial point of view at least) was agreed.

So why now? what changed for “Money” Mayweather?

The simple answer of course is that in boxing especially, money is everything, or as Floyd might say “Money isn’t everything; It’s the only thing” and when you’re being offered over 100 million dollars to step into the ring, it’s pretty hard to say no, especially when you are as driven as Mayweather is by the almighty dollar.

But is it? is money all that matters to Floyd?

We know that little Floyd has a history of avoiding fast, smooth moving fighters, specifically southpaws and Manny falls into both categories with his super quick hands that throw around 100 punches per round and for years now it has been accepted that Pacman was the only man in the division that could challenge Mayweathers dominance and finally force the money man to taste a defeat.

All kinds of excuses and slanders were thrown about in a bit to stop this fight. The random drug testing stipulations that Mayweather had insisted upon were largely down to some rather nasty and unsubstantiated rumours (started by the Mayweathers!) that Pacquiao was using performance enhancing drugs during his climb up the weights. Of course this lead to conflict, acrimony and a further distancing between the camps that made any agreement to fight a virtual impossibility.

Mayweathers father, Floyd Snr, has never had much respect for anyone and his accusations that Pacquiao was juicing resulted in a law suit against the Mayweathers that was eventually settled out of court but did little to change the deadlock that looked to have destroyed the possibility of the 2 best pound for pound fighters meeting in the ring.

There should be no doubting that this was a fight the Mayweathers did not want, no matter how much the public craved it and no matter how much money they stood to make. They did everything in their power to avoid the fight without making it look that way. After all, their boy was number 1 and why would he ever fear “that Filipino Midget” – not my words, but those of the charming, wife beating Floyd jnr.

You may have assumed from the tone of this article that I am not Floyd’s biggest fan and while there can be no doubting the man’s ability, there has always been a question mark next to his heart and his mind, not least for the repeated domestic abuse charges that saw him spend 3 months in a Las Vegas jail 2 years ago but also for his continual ducking of Pacquiao and other dangerous opponents.

It has been pretty much accepted that this fight was only made because Pacquiao agreed to all of Mayweathers demands, most notably a 60/40 split of the earnings, the Olympic style drug testing that Pacman had previously objected to and of course any number of minor details such as what gloves to wear and whose name came first in the promotion. Childish? maybe so but this is the “Money Team” and what Mayweather wants, he tends to get.

But finally after all the bull, after all the allegations, acrimony and endless talk, finally these two will get it on in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand this Saturday. But is this what he wanted? To finally put his record on the line against a fighter as fast and dangerous as Manny? Freddie Roach doesn’t think so and neither do I.

Roach has spoken today about the lack of bravado in Mayweather, the lack of trash talk, an almost apparent lack of interest in his voice. Mayweather says it’s just another fight for him, just another opponent but we know that isn’t the case. You know it, I know it and most of all, Floyd knows it.

It would now appear, with just 3 days til the fight, that perhaps the realisation of what Mayweather is about to face has finally hit him. Roach thinks’ he’s nervous and that he didn’t want this fight and for 5 years, all the evidence suggested this to be the case and in recent days he has acted like a man who doesn’t want to be there.

Showtime were absolutely desperate to make this fight and were clearly unhappy at Mayweather’s decision to rematch Marcos Maidana rather than make a deal with Pacquiao and there can be no doubt that pressure was applied on Floyd to make this fight a reality.

Mayweather is a walking contradiction, one minute it’s all about the money and the next it’s all about his “0” and you do wonder what it is that motivates him more than anything else. Surely legacy comes into it? Floyd knows this is for all the marbles and he probably never wanted it this way.

There comes a time when even someone like Floyd can get backed into a corner. He might be the Money Man who counts his cash on Instagram but make no mistake, Floyd protects his “0” more than his family or even indeed the women who bore his chidren – the very same children who were forced to witness their father “restrain” their mother. Well that’s Floyd’s excuse. One wonders what excuse this “man” will come up with on Sunday when all the smoke has cleared.

It’s time to stand up Floyd and face your destiny, a destiny that reads 47 and 1.



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