By Michael Brady: Mayweather-Pacquiao. Haye-Klitschko. Khan-Maidaina. It’s like an infinite motion of one step forward and two steps back, like magnets that can only get so close before they inevitably start to repel each other, and it’s nothing new. This “repelling” action that most champions seem to have is now so common in the sport that it’s actually becoming a rarity when you get two that “attract” and clash.
But what is the reason behind this? Cowardice? Greed? Pride? It could well be a combination of all three, but in the end it all boils down to the fact that boxing is a business first and a sport second.
Mayweather and Pacquiao, two names that collectively spill out of any boxing fans mouth on a daily basis, often followed by a rather bare and unfactual diatribe on why one would wipe the floor with the other. But for once, let’s take a step back and approach this without any unnecessary emotional involvement.
Manny and Floyd are at the forefront of this argument and often take the full brunt of the abuse as to why this fight isn’t materialising. However; there are strings being pulled behind the scenes and two of the main culprits could be the promoters, mainly Bob Arum. Now I respect what Bob Arum and Top Rank have brought to the sport, they’ve strived to advance and evolve the sport to create fantastic boxing events, like loosening the grasp Las Vegas has on mega-fights, instead opting for the old school and much more atmospheric venues such as stadiums and ballparks. Another is the music between rounds to keep the crowd’s adrenaline pumping along with the gigantic 360 degree television screen we saw during the Pacquiao V Cotto fight.
Although one thing I do dislike about Bob Arum is his greed, he’s got a relatively small stable, strong it may be, but still small. Now there are only so many match ups Bob Arum can create using only his fighters without them becoming stagnant, uninteresting and unnecessary. We may have now reached that point, and still he seems to be more inclined to shake off Mayweather and throw Pacquiao in with another fighter from his rather limited arsenal. Why? You already know the answer, He and Top Rank receive double the profit they normally would. This is where you have to understand that as a boxing fan you take a back seat and try and enjoy whatever is thrown your way. Many people cast the blame over Manny and Floyd’s apparent “cowardice”.
There is one thing I’ll say about every boxer on the planet, not one of them is a coward. Most of the population would dread the thought of standing alone in a ring and fighting another person, risking your life every second you’re in there. There is a fundamental difference between being a coward and being fearless. Katsidis, Cotto, Marquez, Vazquez these are examples of fearless boxers. Now because another boxer is more careful about who he fights, it does not by any means make him a coward, lets be honest no sport on earth punishes you for losing as much as boxing does.
Pacquiao could be seen as fearless, but now this is the real test for him. No longer is he seen as the smaller underdog, he is seen as on a level playing field and a gigantic expectation now looms over him, an expectation that was never really there before.
Mayweather, I feel has more to lose, Manny has already stated that he will only have one more fight, win, lose or draw. Floyd has no such ambition, instead wanting to remain a major cash cow in boxing; if he loses he would still remain a main target as Pacquiao would no longer be present, however his Achilles heel would have been exposed; the air of invincibility that surrounds him no longer in existence and that more than anything would be detrimental to Floyd’s career. His whole persona balances carefully on his unbeaten record, the fact that nobody has a blueprint on how to beat him; however if beaten by Pacquiao he may find future fights considerably more difficult. A fighter going up against Floyd with the knowledge that he’s beatable would have that extra layer of confidence and a stronger psychological edge than they would against him otherwise.
It’s been touch and go with this bout for months, will they? Won’t they? In all honesty I can’t see this fight not happening, although nothing is clear and in all fairness it isn’t looking overly promising at this moment in time. However; we only ever see what the media wants us to see and you’ll probably find that most of this has been used to hype the fight up. This fight is far too big to not happen, as I said before, boxing is a business first and a sport second.
What better way to create maximum interest in the fight than to get people talking and causing a huge rivalry between the two sets of fans. If you think about it both fighters have played the good and bad guy role: Floyd wants to clean the sport and says all Manny needs to do is agree to the bloodtesting. Manny declines. Pro Mayweather, Anti Pacquiao.
Manny then agrees and offers Floyd a 50-50 split, Mayweather refuses and demands a larger percentage. Pro Pacquiao, Anti Mayweather. So you can see how fans are being taken through this series of twists and turns to ensure they get wrapped up in all the commotion and hype that’s currently unfolding. If this is the case (which I believe is possible) then it certainly worked to full effect, there are now two separate extremities of fans, Love one and loathe the other, the interest in this fight is now phenomenal and I don’t think that could have been achieved without the constant back and forth tennis match motion. Strike while the iron is hot, and they’ve made sure the fans are as hot as possible. Which do I think would win? I’ll save that for my next article.
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