Manny Pacquiao: How Bob Arum is Destorying Pac-Man's Legacy

Very few boxing fans would argue against the notion that Manny Pacquiao is among the best boxers of the current era. In fact, he and Floyd Mayweather, Jr. are universally viewed as the cream of the crop. For as good as Pacquiao has been, though, there is no question that promoter Bob Arum has held him back.

Arum, who is the founder and CEO of Top Rank Promotions, has helped create some of the biggest fights in boxing history. That includes bouts such as Marvin Hagler vs. "Sugar" Ray Leonard and Evander Holyfield vs. George Foreman. He has also helped fighters like Oscar De La Hoya, Erik Morales and Miguel Cotto reach new heights.

Arum has certainly got Pacquiao some important fights as well, but the giant elephant in the room remains. There is one match that each and every boxing fan wants to see and that, of course, is Pacquiao vs. Mayweather. They are the two best pound-for-pound fighters in boxing and the world wants to know who is better, once and for all.

While Arum has played the blame game quite a bit by claiming that Mayweather wants a ridiculous share of the purse, according to Josh Slagter of MLive.com, I can't help but think his past relationship with Mayweather has something to do with it. Arum promoted Mayweather from 1996 to 2006, but after the pair dissolved their relationship, Mayweather had nothing but bad things to say about Arum's ability to promote.

With that in mind, there have to be some bad feelings on Arum's part. Mayweather is probably very difficult to deal with, but he has managed to get Pacquiao other high-profile fights like Cotto, De La Hoya, Morales, Shane Mosley, Ricky Hatton, Juan Manuel Marquez on three occasions, and many others. For whatever reason, though, he hasn't been able to secure Mayweather.

On some level, the lack of an agreement between the two sides seems to be because Arum doesn't really want it to come to fruition. After the way Mayweather dragged him through the mud—including blaming Arum for the fight not happening, according to Steve Carp of the Las Vegas Review-Journal—Arum likely doesn't like seeing him have so much success.

"

Pacquiao says he wants to fight? Fine, let's do it May 5, Mayweather said (while negotiating the fight in January) Bob Arum's the one standing in the way of this fight.

It's been excuses after excuses after excuses by Bob Arum. It wasn't me. All I've ever asked is to be treated fairly.

"

Granting him a fight with Pacquiao would only exacerbate that. Furthermore, it would give Mayweather the chance to become one of the best ever with a win.

The problem with that, however, is that unless Pacquiao beats Mayweather, he can never be called the better fighter. Pacquiao may be quicker and more powerful, but he has lost on three occasions and fought to a draw twice. Meanwhile, Mayweather remains undefeated. What Arum seems to be forgetting is that Pacquiao needs this fight a lot more than Mayweather does.

Promoters have to do what is best for their fighters regardless of their personal feelings. Arum simply hasn't done that throughout this process. He has instead opted to take the low road by making Mayweather look bad. Mayweather isn't innocent in all of this by a long shot, but Arum needs to overlook his grudge at this point.

A promoter having a big ego is nothing new, as Don King can attest, but Arum's ego is damaging to Pacquiao and boxing fans as a whole. If Pacquiao never fights Mayweather, his career is going to be incomplete. No matter how many more fights he wins, there will always be an asterisk if the Mayweather fight doesn't happen.

If Arum and Mayweather both give a little, there is no reason why this fight can't happen. However, if things continue this way, Pac-Man will not have accomplished all he could have.

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