By Babatis Banda: The announcement by Bob Arum, that Manny will not be fighting Floyd Mayweather this coming May, came not as a surprise, but a confirmation of what it has been like to deal with Arum the past two years. It is good though, that the events of the past few weeks have opened the eyes of the world on this issue.
It is clear that Floyd made his honest part, announced well in advance, his availability for May 5, way before Manny was embarrassed by Marquez in that bout.
In my opinion, Floyd must move on, take on real challenge in Martinez or even Soul Alvarez while Arum puts Pacquiao in with his own fighters once again. I am beginning to think that some of these in-house fights may actually be fixed. Nature has its own way of balancing things. Arum is slowly, but surely building a web which is already creeping up on him. Manny Pacquiao may be sincere in his dealings, but he has allowed himself to be soiled and has lost face already.
While Floyd may have erred to book the MGM in advance, I feel Arum and Pacquiao should have allowed this fight to take place, and then have ample time to build an arena for a re-match. Both ways, Arum would still have satisfied his insatiable appetite for money, while keeping his ego just as high. Now that this is all water under the bridge, those of us who love the sport will wait, God willing, to watch the fight happen November 2012 or indeed 2013. The result will still be the same, even with this delay, no doubt.
As usual, even when it is blatantly clear that Floyd has had nothing to do with the collapse of this fight yet again, sadists and haters will still hunt for something to say, just to put Manny and Arum off the hook and that is expected, especially from his fanatical fan base. The real winner here is certainly not Manny but Arum. He is going to cash-in both sides in Manny’s next fight just like he always does, make the most money and probably later allow a Floyd versus Manny fight to end it in style. Such greed at the expense of everybody else is not just annoying, but repulsive and inhumane.
Time is the greatest teacher, and time will come when all these injustices against the real loving fans of the sport is avenged. For the fanatics, this is yet another opportunity to defend and support these wicked and embarrassing acts of cowardice and double standards. Whatever happens next, this is just a delay, the inevitable is bound to happen sooner or later.
Arum and Manny Pacquiao have wriggled their way out of a fight with Floyd yet again, but not without some scars. People are seeing and people are judging and the truth is as clear as it can ever be. For sure, many more people now agree that Manny is running.
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