I don't blame Manny or Floyd for the fact that the latest fight of the century might not be next on the docket for either fighter (or worse might not go off at all). After all, the ills of the 'sweet science' can rarely be attributed to the actual combatants, even in this case when the two shirtless, high-top wearing fighters have egos the size of Nevada.
I used to be of the opinion that no one could beat The Pretty Boy, because no one could touch him. Enter the new and improved PacMan. Three years ago, Manny Pacquio was a spunky, hard punching Phillipino who wasn't afraid of a scrap. Manny has now morphed under the tutelage of Freddy Roach into a complete fighter. He put on 40 lbs and hasn't lost any of his speed, and Mark McGwire was born a home run hitter. So...
The fact remains that these are the two best fighters, in (our near) their prime, and even casual boxing fans are dying to see this match up. How will Manny penetrate Floyd's defense? How will Floyd slow down Manny's onslaught? Can Floyd knock someone out if he is trailing in late rounds? What does Floyd's face look like once he takes a few shots?
In a strange way, it's the ideal move for the Mayweather camp to ask Manny to submit to Olympic drug testing. Floyd is brash, abrasive, and the perfectly crafted product of modern boxing. In a sport where you are as alone as you can be once the bell rings, there could not be more beak-wetters crowding the landscape and demanding a cut of the action before and after the bell rings. Floyd knows this, and he knows how to play the game(he'll tell you about his undefeated record if you forgot how well he plays the game). He knows that by throwing this demand out there, he can't lose. Either Manny agrees to the testing, thereby confirming that he is Floyd's biotch and will do whatever he asks him to do; or Manny refuses and gets even his most ardent supporters to question his assent to boxing super-stardom.
Floyd is probably my favorite boxer, and most recently made Juan Manuel Marquez (a guy who barely lost to PacMan in two questionable split decisions) look like Gabriel García Márquez(an 80 year old author who probably doesn't fight particularly well). Watching Floyd box is akin to watching Jordan play above the rim or Mozart compose an Aria. He is, however, as good at avoiding fists as he is at avoiding fighters he doesn't want to fight. Since none of the 5 different sanctioning bodies (each with their own belt) can force a fighter to take a certain opponent, it's all up to the fighter, or more accurately his promoter, manager, trainer, wife, entourage, corporate underwriter, etc.
So, it seems the question has become: will it be more profitable for Floyd to fight 3 or 4 tomato cans and maintain the goose egg in the loss column before he retires, or will it be more profitable for him to risk his record to give the people what they want? Everyone keeps saying that this fight needs to happen because of how much money is on the table (a reported purse of at least $50 million for each fighter), but I'm not convinced. Boxing is too corrupt and too many people are looking out only for themselves. If this fight really doesn't happen, Boxing could be in serious danger. You can't ask people to shell out considerable chunks of money for pay per view fights, holding a carrot out in front of their noses, and never deliver.
Boxing will always be the most intriguing sport out there, but they have to remember who is putting money into the pot so that everyone involved can get paid: the fans. Maybe this is just a sham to drum up some kind of rivalry and get us to pay for another pay per view before Maywether/PacMan I, Maywether/PacMan II, Maywether/PacMan III, etc...
I have gotten my hopes up for this fight, just like I got my hopes up for the reunion of Conan and Andy Richter on late night TV. It's becoming clear to me that consumers of this crap have all the power, but they only have the power as one smushed together mass. Voices of reason can not be heard when ratings and pay per view numbers say something different. So, I'm not hating the players in this mess, but I'm starting to hate the game.
