Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao Has Already Exceeded the Hype Part 1

PaNeither fighter has thrown a punch, and there hasn’t been any blood spilled.

Moreover, the fight is still not a guarantee.

But ironically, the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight has already exceeded the hype.

To begin with, negotiations for this fight have been wild and problem-filled from the beginning.

The first dilemma was who would take the bigger share of the purse.

Both fighters claimed they deserved the bigger share of the purse. However, that was settled and both agreed to an even split.

Fair deal.

With the money settled, location was now the bigger problem.

Las Vegas, New Orleans and Dallas were in a three-way race to see who would get the honors to host the biggest fight of the decade.

Bob Arum and Richard Schaefer were expected to meet with Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to begin negotiations and bids for this fight. Schaefer, at the last minute, refused to meet with Jones and, on behalf of Mayweather, decided a stadium was not appropriate.

Jerry Jones was undaunted by this and made an alleged bid that sparked interest in both Mayweather and Pacquiao camps to take a look at Dallas.

Nevertheless, Las Vegas turned out to be the final winner.

On top of all this, Mayweather Sr. and Freddie Roach commenced in a verbal war.

Mayweather Sr. has his doubts about Pacquiao’s achievements and claims Pacquiao must be on performance enhancement drugs. Roach responded by saying “he would knock Mayweather Sr. out” (Seriously).

This will surely be a highlight on HBO’s 24/7 series.

Head trainers throwing jabs at each other and a possible $50 million dollar purse for each fighter.

I know. It’s overwhelming.

Despite the bumpy road, the fight was deemed to be reality. Fight fans dreams would become true.

There was just one, major obstacle in the way.

Recently, Mayweather demanded an “Olympic Style” drug testing. Apparently, Pacquiao would have no part of this, prompting Bob Arum to declare the fight “dead”.

Now the boxing community has gone crazy over this debacle.

Some are saying Pacquiao should man up and take the test if he has nothing to hide.

Some say he has no reason to do so and is part of a psychological warfare Mayweather is trying to instill.

Is there racism behind all this?

Is Pacquiao hiding something?

Is Mayweather trying to make an excuse to avoid Pacquiao?

What exactly is going on is beyond me, but it has led to highly debated arguments fueled by articles and comments written all over the boxing community.

Just take a look at the columns featured here in Bleacher Report.

Personally, I believe the fight will occur. It may or may not happen on March 13, 2010, but it will be made some time next year.

In regard to the whole testing and performance drug testing, I have yet to fully analyze all the factors to make an educated opinion, so I will refrain from that to avoid any controversy or hateful comments.

Talks about meeting other opponents are just tactics used by both sides to get negotiating leverage. So you can tell Shane Mosley, Yuri Foreman and Paulie Malignaggi not to get their hopes up.

As you can see, negotiations and drama are going back and forth.  

Even if the fight is lackluster (which it won’t), the pre-negotiations leading up to the fight have been so wild that the fight has already exceeded the hype.

Remember we still have press conferences, interviews, predictions, and HBO’s 24/7 to keep it going.

Without a doubt, this fight is already becoming an epic battle.

Check out my website at Fight Fan Forever .

You can also check out my other articles

Part 2