By John F. McKenna (McJack): World Boxing Council (WBC) welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (42-0, 26 KO’s) has duped his legions of fans once again with the announcement that he will face WBA light middleweight champion Miguel Cotto (37-2, 30 KO’s).
Right now Mayweather’s fans are jubilant at the prospect of watching their idol dismantle another cherry picked opponent.
Let’s be honest, Floyd fights no one unless he is totally convinced that he has their number. In essence, “Money” Mayweather is past the point in his career where he takes risks. His “0” has become the most important thing in his life. Athletes in every sport continue to test themselves during their career. It used to be that way with Floyd. Not so anymore.
And does anyone really believe that Floyd had WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38 KO’s) in mind when he reserved the MGM Grand Arena for May 5th? Of course Mayweather’s fans believed him because they want so very much to believe everything he posts or twitters. But the reality is that Mayweather never took any interest in fighting Pacquiao until Manny’s sub par performance against Juan Manuel Marquez, a fighter that Floyd totally dominated in 2009.
Calling a fighter out on twitter is not the way to get a fight done in an adult world. Neither is reserving a venue in advance of contacting the fighter or the promoter of the fighter you supposedly intend to fight. The venue and date of a fight that will bring in well over $100 million is negotiable and not arbitrarily picked by one of the fighters in advance. Mayweather knew full well when he reserved the MGM Grand that Top Rank CEO Bob Arum would look upon it as a charade and not take it seriously.
Imagine the reaction from Mayweather if another fighter reserved a venue and then announced to the world that he had done so without contacting Floyd. It wouldn’t fly. What Floyd did know is that boxing writers would dutifully report his every utterance and every move. It was a way to generate maximum publicity, but Pacquiao was never going to be Mayweather’s opponent on the Cinco De Mayo holiday.
Miguel Cotto after being destroyed by Antonio Margarito and Manny Pacquiao in two debilitating losses is damaged goods. To be honest he does not belong in the same ring with either Mayweather or Pacquiao.
To be sure, in this writers view Floyd Mayweather Jr. is the elite fighter of his generation. It is also my opinion that Floyd would handily defeat Pacquiao if he had the courage to face him and was not preoccupied at the prospect of losing his “0”.
Manny Pacquiao must also shoulder some of the blame for the non happening of the Mega fight with Floyd. After all, Manny was the one who said he would accept a smaller cut of the pie just to get Mayweather into the ring with him. Pacquiao then reneged on that commitment. Bob Arum is also an impediment to the Mega fight happening. After Manny’s less than stellar performance against Marquez, Arum seemed to lose a considerable amount of interest in placing his cash cow in the ring with Mayweather.
It is amazing that all the key players in both the Mayweather and Pacquiao camps insist that they want to see the two fighters go to war, but as time goes on the likelihood increases that the fight will never happen.
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