Pacquiao and Arum, on the shorter end of the stick

By Babatis Banda: Floyd Mayweather Jr has a few more days to go before he is released from incarceration. So much has been said about his condition in prison. My belief is that most of it has been an attempt to secure a house arrest rather than the truth about his condition.

Floyd is likely to be in a better condition than most would love, and I would not be surprised if he walked the ring again before the end of this year. That aside, It is rumored that Arum is floating a 45/45/10 purse to Mayweather to fight Manny Pacquiao in November. If this is true, Arum is far from securing a fight with Mayweather, and it shows that Arum does not understand the reality at hand.

Boxing being a risky sport, there are things that fighters consider when signing a contract. For example, why would Mayweather leave 10% of his purse up for grabs considering that controversy is part of boxing and Judges can be subjective? This is the reason fighters have guaranteed purses. This is also the reason Floyd asked Pacquiao to call him out, and be the challenger. It is absurd that a 45/45/10 purse is actually on the table considering the new developments over the past few months.

Arum is now in an even more difficult position to convince Floyd that Pacquiao is his equal. Pacquiao, irrespective of what people say about the judges, lost his last fight. The PPV numbers were nothing to write home about. The little leverage Arum and Pacquiao had before, evaporated overnight and what is left behind is a legacy of a once ‘great Pacquiao’.

You may not like it, or you can choose to play the blame game on Floyd, but he is what he is because he believes he is man of his own. Floyd will not back-down just because Pacquiao seems more invincible now than before, or whatever some quarters believed. Floyd will walk into that ring knowing he calls the shots because he deserves to.

Now 2012 fighter of the year, and for the fourth time, the 1st on Forbes list on all best paid sports personalities, an ‘0’ on his record……say what you like, he is the best of this era. Arum needs to wake up and realize that it will take more than cheap politics to get Floyd where he wants him to be, and that he and Manny are on the shorter end of the stick.