Manny Pacquiao's Urge to Visit Floyd Mayweather in Jail Adds to Odd Relationship

Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather will always be linked together—despite the fact that they've never actually fought each other—and Pacquiao's desire to visit Pretty Boy Floyd while he served his two-month jail sentence only adds to their peculiar bond.

That's right. Pac-Man wanted to pay a visit to Mayweather in a Las Vegas jail, according to an interview with Mayweather's father on On the Ropes radio (per SI.com):

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“Pacquiao told me he wanted to see little Floyd, when little Floyd was in jail,” Floyd Mayweather Sr., said. “I guess he was training over there and he told me that he wanted to do see little Floyd in jail. He said he did not know if he could get in or not, and I told him I did not know if I could get in either.”

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It remains unclear whether or not Pacquiao actually visited the world's top fighter, but his desire alone makes this bizarre. In a watered down boxing world, these two elite fighters are unparalleled.

That's led to a plethora of speculation surrounding a fight between the two, but we've never received a concrete decision. Top Rank promoter Bob Arum insists that a fight will happen, and he has mentioned April of 2013 as a potential target time.

We don't know Pacquiao's motive to visit "Money" Mayweather, but it obviously wasn't to fight him. One thing is for sure though: this isn't normal behavior for two guys who are supposed to be rivals.

Mayweather respects Pacquiao's boxing talent, but this gesture from Pacquiao is another thing entirely. 

Every once in awhile, rivals are able to put their differences aside and just be "people." Magic Johnson and Larry Bird had a tremendous amount of respect for each other, despite the blood-rivalry between the Lakers and Celtics on the floor. 

It's not surprising that an athlete is able to show compassion toward one of his competitors, but these are boxers; their job is to go into the ring and beat each other until a victor is declared. 

That doesn't leave a lot of room for compassionate gestures.

There's no doubt that these two will always be bound together. Their reigns in the ring have come at a time where the sport sorely lacks "star" power. The intrigue surrounding their potential meeting in the ring solidifies that further, but this adds a different dimension to the discussion.

Regardless of motive, Pacquiao wanted to go out of his way to see the one fighter who stands in the way of his legacy.

Mayweather is the only thing between total satisfaction and a never-ending "what if?" scenario for Pacquiao. If they never meet in the ring, people will always wonder what the outcome would have been if they had met.

These two have been engaged in their own song-and-dance for what feels like forever, and the plotline just took another, albeit minor, twist. 

All of the uncertainties surrounding these two fighters boil down to one fact: when you look back on the best fighters from this decade, two names will pop into your head at exactly the same time.

We may never know if Pacquiao actually did visit Mayweather in jail, but that doesn't change the unique bond these two fighters will always share.