By Sizzle JKD: Here’s the thing as to why it’s taken this long for the super fight to materialize: both fighters had to prepare for each other. And there are many ways to interpret this.
First, let’s look at the financial aspect. Yes, this fight could have happened, and many will say, should have happened in 2010 after Manny Pacquiao annihilated Miguel Cotto to capture the WBO welterweight crown while Floyd Mayweather Jr easily outpointed Pacman nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez after coming back from a two-year hiatus. But as destiny would have it, both sides failed to agree and negotiations came to a screeching halt.
Although both fighters were in their primes in 2010, the boxing gods said to wait it out a little longer. What was then an estimated $150-200 million mega fight has now turned into what most are saying will generate somewhere in the neighborhood of $250-300 million when all is said and done.
In today’s boxing world, where rival promoters and ever escalating fighter egos are the norm, there is one factor that rules all – money. And the sole reason this fight is only happening now is because of the genius of both Al Haymon and Bob Arum. They were patient enough so that by the time Floyd and Manny faced each other in the squared circle, the money pot would have been completely maximized. As a result, we are now looking at a potential trilogy to close out both fighters’ careers. Three mega fights between the two boxing titans would most likely generate over a billion dollars combined, something that’s never been done before in any sporting event.
It was all about the timing in order to line their pockets, and to the dismay of boxing fans, Floyd and Manny’s promoters and advisers did a masterful job in cherry picking their way to give their most prized possession low risk, high reward fights in order to not only preserve their fighters, but also to prepare their fighters with opponents that served as tune-ups for each other.
Another reason why this fight took five years to happen is because both fighters had to not only maximize their earning potential, but they also had to prepare for each other. Looking at Pacquiao’s opponents since 2012, one thing is glaringly obvious. Save for Brandon Rios, who was clearly cherry picked by Arum in order to give Manny an opponent who was dangerous enough to give Pacquiao something to think about but safe enough that Rios’ style was tailor-made for Pacquiao, Manny’s opponents the last 3 years have all been defensive minded fighters who are known as technical counter punchers – Tim Bradley (2x), Marquez (2x) and the 5’10” Chris Algieri, whose 72” reach mirrors that of Floyd’s. To this writer, it’s clear that part of the Arum plan was to give Pacquiao opponents who not only posed a challenge to Pacquiao but also to give Manny a subtle taste of the Mayweather fighting style.
Similarly, Floyd’s opponents since 2012 have all been offensive minded fighters whose tendency is to come forward, attack, and try to initiate toe-to-toe action – Victor Ortiz, Miguel Cotto, Saul Alvarez, Robert Guerrero, and Marcos Maidana. Futhermore, two of them (Ortiz and Guerrero) are southpaws like Pacquiao and Cotto is a converted southpaw. Was it a coincidence that the Harvard educated Haymon gave Floyd low risk, high reward opponents that were all offensive fighters like Pacquiao? I think not. It was part of the master plan – to give Floyd tune-ups for Pacquiao, to have him fight a couple of hard hitting southpaws. After all, it wasn’t that long ago when Paul Spadafora, a southpaw, got the best of Floyd during some well-publicized sparring sessions that were more than competitive.
It would not have been appealing to stage a Mayweather-Pacquiao showdown in 2010 because at the time, Floyd did not have a belt. Floyd did not capture his WBC welterweight title until late 2011 with his “fixed” win over Victor Ortiz, but when Pacquiao “lost” his controversial decision and ultimately his WBO title to Tim Bradley in 2012, it scrapped any hopes of a Pacquiao vs Mayweather fight.
Of course, if you’re going to have a Pacquiao vs. Mayweather blockbuster event, it only makes sense if the fight is a title unification bout. This is what we didn’t have in 2010, 2011, and 2012 but is what we will have in 2015.
Was there ever a doubt that the super fight would happen? Never. The two best fighters of this era have been on a collision course the entire time. It was all about the timing. And you know the old adage: “Timing is everything.”
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