May 5th 2012 – Mayweather vs…
Written by Jasveer Singh Gill
It does not happen very often, but there may just be a lot of people that go to Las Vegas next year that come back slightly disappointed.
Usually this type of feeling only affects those that have returned from Sin City bankrupt after a hit too many on the casino tables. Next year though, any unlucky gamblers will be joined in their sorrow by the thousands that inopportunely decided to book a trip to Vegas on the back of the rumour that May 5th 2012 is the date that the world will finally get to see Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquaio.
Over the last few weeks rumours of the fight finally having been agreed have peaked and dropped in a manner resembling the economy over this decade. On at least two separate days in the past month fans with perhaps more enthusiasm than insight have hailed the news that the fight of the century had finally been organised. Social networking sites, especially Twitter, were ablaze with people claiming they were already booking trips to Vegas in anticipation of getting to see the big fight.
Whether or not these people are now hastily cancelling plans or instead booking tickets to Cirque Du Soleil is of ill concern to the boxing public. What is of concern is that Floyd Mayweather has booked himself a slot to fight at the MGM Grand next year in May and has yet to name an opponent.
The likeliness that this opponent is Manny Pacquaio is as remote as it has ever been. This is despite the wave of confidence that went through many Mayweather fans after Pacquaio’s last fight, against Juan Manuel Marquez. It was the direct reaction to this fight which setoff the rumour that was finally Mayweather ready to fight Pacquaio.
That fight, which saw Marquez for the third time take Pacquaio to the very brink of defeat (with the judges in the arena being part of the minority of viewers that thought Pacquaio did actually win) was hope for those that feared Pacquaio was some kind of invincible monster. Marquez was showing great timing, a tight defence and brilliant special awareness to render Pacquaio mortal. These are skills that Mayweather has in abundance. Yet after having done it twice before, this performance by Marquez against Pacquiao was not a massive surprise to the more knowledgeable boxing fan. This is perhaps why the fans got a lot more carried away than those in the know about the alleged completion of negotiations.
In truth, it was more hope than anything else. Mayweather openly announced he would be fighting in May less than a week after the Pacquaio-Marquez fight and fans hoped it was because he saw weakness in Pacquaio. The truth was and still is that the Mayweather camp, including his manager Al Haymon and members of the Golden Boy Promotions team, opened up to negotiate with anyone that could be a worthy opponent. However, suggesting the fight was officially on was and still is way off.
So, with the bout now having been touted for over three years, what is getting in the way of this super fight, from actually happening?
Despite what many will say, the number one factor is Floyd Mayweather. Without getting into the issue of whether either of these fighters is ‘ducking’ the other, there are some clear indications that point to Mayweather as the biggest obstacle in the way of this fight.
Firstly, Manny Pacquaio, in a manner which he is sometimes criticised for, is led by his promoter Bob Arum. Whomever Bob Arum chooses as an opponent, Pacquaio will fight. Therefore, it would not be Pacquaio’s decision to opt not to fight Mayweather, as Arum signs the contract for him. As anyone in the boxing business would tell you, it is nigh on impossible that any promoter, let alone one as renowned as Arum, would ever turn the chance down to both hold the biggest fight of this century and make themselves a huge amount of money in the process.
The most talked about sticking point is and has been the drug testing. Whilst Mayweather has been adamant he wants to now impose a strict drug testing regime for any of his opponents, he is yet to protest to any boxing board of control to make these sanctions apply worldwide, for all boxing matches. At the same time, fighters that are under his promotional banner are not faced with the same kind of strict testing that Mayweather wishes his opponents to face.
Clearly, it is more of a way for Mayweather to gain a psychological advantage over opponents, rather than a genuine campaign to try to clean up the sport of boxing. However, quotes attributed to both Mayweather’s father, Floyd Senior and his uncle Roger Mayweather show that the Mayweather team may genuinely feel that Pacquaio has been or even still is a user of performance enhancing drugs.
Pacquaio has even come round, stating through members of his team that he would be willing to take whatever tests were needed. But the new sticking point comes from the fact that the USADA (United States Anti-Doping Association), the organisation that takes care of Olympic drug testing in America that were hired by Mayweather to conduct the tests on his opponents, would be unable to go to the Philippines to randomly test Pacquaio because of international legislation. As Pacquaio, thanks to his duties as a congressman in his home nation, now spends a big chunk of his fight camp overseas, this leaves Mayweather feeling that Pacquaio would not be adequately tested. Therefore the demands for these stricter drug tests would mean that Pacquaio would need to spend more time in America than he has for recent training camps.
Back to square one, with the fight off for the time being, what options are there for Mayweather’s big date on May 5th next year?
The best and most likely option right now looks to be Miguel Cotto. Having just avenged one of only two defeats in a 39 fight career by beating Antonio Margarito (the other defeat coming against Manny Pacquaio) to remain the WBA light-middleweight champion, Cotto is a very worthy opponent for Mayweather. It was in fact the first defeat of his career against Margarito in 2008 which saw him lose his original chance to call out Mayweather for a super-fight. Still close to the peak of his powers, a Mayweather-Cotto fight would provide both entertainment and massive money, with Cotto being perhaps the third biggest PPV draw in the world after Mayweather and Pacquaio.
Britain’s Amir Khan is also a capable opponent that would bring more than enough money to satisfy Mayweather’s demand for a big payday. However, Mayweather has always wanted to come to Britain for a massive fight in a venue like Wembley Stadium, which would provide a stupendous amount of revenue from the ticket-gate. This was the reason why he was close to agreeing to fight Matthew Hatton in England for his comeback fight in 2010, despite the fact that Ricky’s younger brother was neither a champion nor a big audience draw.
For a huge TV audience though, the best fight for Mayweather could be another light-middleweight champion in Saul Alvarez. The 21 year old is a massive star to Mexican’s right now. Although he is yet to fight at the level of a Mayweather it would be deemed a suitable match up simply because the sheer size of Alvarez, who is massive at the weight, would mean many would favour him to win, especially with his busy style and heavy hands. His size though may also be the same reason that Mayweather, a natural light-welter/welterweight, may not be willing to fight Alvarez. Despite Cotto fighting at the same weight, he is a far smaller man than Alvarez.
The name Brandon Rios was also being thrown about, the lightweight Mexican champion having started rampaging through his division, creating an aura of both excitement and fear around himself, in the way only fighters of his ilk (think Mike Tyson, Ricky Hatton, Julio Cesar Chavez) can. Nevertheless, he is two divisions below Mayweather and his last performance against England’s John Murray was not devastating enough of a statement to let him be deemed a worthy opponent.
It is not like Mayweather does not have options, it is just that he is unlikely to fight the opponent that everyone wants him to, which will undoubtedly upset many fans when he does eventually name his next opponent.
There is still a possibility, a very slight one though, that Mayweather and Pacquaio could still be arranged, as there is still a lot of time before May 5th. Yet more than likely, boxing fans will once again be let down.
Will this super-fight ever come to fruition? Can boxing prove it is still a sport more than a business? Will Mayweather and Pacquaio fight in 2012? Like many tell those disappointed gamblers that leave Vegas every day, you shouldn’t bet on it.
