By Chris Williams: If trainer Roger Mayweather gets his way, WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. will be facing WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao next in a big money unification bout in 2012. Roger doesn’t see any point in waiting for the fight to happen, as he’s ecstatic about how good Floyd is looking in training camp as he gets ready for his HBO pay-per-view fight against WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto.
Roger said to the Latimes.com “This is the best I’ve seen him since the Diego Corrales fight. He hasn’t been laid off at all, he’s back tight, sharper…There ain’t no way that guy [Pacquiao] lasts five rounds against my nephew.”
I hate to say it but Roger is telling the truth here. There is NO WAY that Pacquiao will make it five rounds with Mayweather, but then maybe that’s why we haven’t seen them fighting yet. Mayweather really wanted the fight like crazy in the past two years, but he’s faced all kinds of obstacles with Pacquiao not wanting blood testing within two weeks of the fight in their 2010 failed negotiations, and then Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum saying he had to build an outdoor arena before the fight could be made in order to maximize profits. It just doesn’t fly.
If the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight gets made, it’s curtains for Pacquiao. He’s not skilled enough to hang with a talented fighter like Mayweather, and he’ll end up looking foolish in front of the world. I do not see the fight being made until Pacquiao is in his last fight of his career, and believe me that’s when Arum will likely push like mad to get the fight made. You’ll see the difference when that time comes. If Mayweather doesn’t want an outdoor arena. No problem, the fight can happen at the MGM Grand or wherever he wants it. If Mayweather doesn’t want to give Pacquiao a 50-50 deal.
I can see Arum accepting whatever offer he can get from Mayweather. The reason why is simple. Pacquiao will still make a heck of a lot more money in the retirement fight than he will facing whoever else Arum can dig up from his Top Rank stable for Pacquiao to fight. He’s kind of run out of fighters anyway, at least ones that the boxing public cares about seeing.
Pacquiao would be out of his class against Mayweather. If Pacquiao comes rushing in trying to throw his combinations, Mayweather will pick him apart like a surgeon. It’ll be like Mayweather fighting Ricky Hatton again. It’ll be too easy.
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