Mayweather, Pacquiao and the Forsaking of the Hardcore Boxing Fan

Who didn’t see this coming?  As of Thursday, January 07, 2010 the proposed mega-fight to end all mega-fights between Floyd Mayweather, Jr. and Manny Pacquiao is off…again…for sure this time…we think. 

The latest breakdown in negotiations that took place this week has put the proposed March 13^th date that had been set aside by their respective promoters, HBO and the entire boxing world in jeopardy unless the two opposing factions come to some sort of agreement within say, the next twenty four hours. 

I’m no professional, but it seems as though they’re already pushing it in regards to the time that is needed to train for a fight of this magnitude.  I find it hard to believe that either fighter or their training staff could feel great about the prospect of getting into the proper shape or getting enough sparring in eight weeks.  It’s just not feasible from a preparatory point of view.

In a perfect world, and we all know that the world of boxing is far from perfect, the promoters and the network would love more time to hype a fight of this magnitude.  They want to squeeze every dollar out of it that they can—and that’s fine because that’s their job.  But, the press that has been garnered by this circus of a negotiation may have done that for them.  There hasn’t been this much national, or international for that matter, media exposure on any boxing since Mike Tyson was the heavyweight champion of the world.  Not even close.

I’m such a sucker for this sport that a small, albeit naïve part of my mind hopes that this whole thing has been a rouse.  That this whole circus has been a ploy and that these two great fighters will actually meet sometime later this year and that was the plan all along.  November is always a great month for fights, this naïve and now loathed part of my imagination has told me. 

Okay, I may be a sucker, but I ain’t stupid.  And I pray that all parties involved aren’t either.  There were predictions of an all time high on expected revenue.  Both fighters were said to be in line to make up to $40 million each.  Each.  It sounds really stupid when you say that out loud--$ 40 million each—and they can’t come to some sort of agreement.  As stupid as that sounds, and it sounds really stupid, there seems to be a far more dangerous kind of stupid that is skulking around and waiting for the opportunity to unleash the full brilliance of its ultimate stupidity.

That would be the announcement of two separate fights:  Pacquiao vs. Yuri Foreman and Mayweather vs. Paulie Malignaggi.  That announcement or any reasonable facsimile can do a lot of harm.  It’s not even the masses that I’m concerned with if this announcement comes about.  The casual fans that would’ve come out en masse for a Mayweather vs. Pacquiao showdown aren’t going to watch those fights anyway.  It’s the true boxing fans that I’m worried about.

For a long time now it has been reported that boxing is in decline and on its way out.  While it is true that boxing isn’t anywhere near as popular as it was in its heyday in the first half of the twentieth century, or even near the heights it reached when Muhammad Ali was the heavyweight champion or later with Tyson as the heavyweight king, there has been a steady, devout following.  These are the same people who always buy the insanely overpriced and equally uninspiring pay-per-views.  But a bait and switch of this proportion would not and should not sit well with them. 

It’s not even that Pacquiao and Mayweather shouldn’t take a fight before they fight one another, it’s that their opponents shouldn’t be Foreman and Malignaggi, respectively.  I’m not trying to down those two guys; they’re both really good fighters in their own right, but not the guys to fight Pacquiao and Mayweather. 

Hell, I think Foreman is not a good fight at all for Pacquiao anyway.  He’s much taller with a sizeable reach advantage, a good boxer and not prone to getting into firefights.  That could be disastrous for Pacquiao and any future showdown with Mayweather.  It’s not worth the risk.

Disastrous would be a walk in the park compared to the other proposed fight that has been mentioned.  The reason being is that Malignaggi, god bless him, shouldn’t be in the ring with Mayweather.  Malignaggi is a fine boxer and charismatic to boot, but Mayweather is probably the greatest fighter of his generation, not to mention that Malignaggi campaigns a full weight class below him.  I shudder to think what that fight would turn out like.  Is it too much to expect the greatest fighter of his generation to fight someone from his own weight class?  

So I propose, as a temporary substitute for the ultimate mega-fight that will hopefully take place in November of this year, a pair of fights that aren’t a slap in the collective face of the most ardent boxing fans out there.  I propose Pacquiao vs. Timothy Bradley and Mayweather vs. any of the following:  Paul Williams, Luis Collazo or Joshua Clottey (or any half-way decent welterweight). 

It’s a win-win situation.  Should both Pacquiao and Mayweather get by their opponents, the demand for this fight would be at a fever pitch from the sporting public and the tried and true boxing fans won’t have been alienated.  That sounds perfect!  Boxing can finally get it right.

I told you I was a sucker…and naïve.