Floyd Mayweather Holds All Cards in Negotiations for Fight with Manny Pacquiao

A recent turn of events will lead to Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao waging in their long anticipated super bout.

You see, Money, as many have suggested, hasn't been ducking Manny Pacquiao. He has just been more concerned about winning the negotiations than the fight. 

Mayweather has taken great pains to build his brand and turn himself into a lucrative business. He wants Manny to meet his demands, which would serve to reinforce Money's standing as the biggest star in boxing. 

So, as ESPN's Dan Rafael points out, Money has famously demanded increased drug testing and a bigger share of the cut. 

In Rafael's article, he has a quote from Manny saying the drug testing is "no problem," and that he would also be willing to take a lesser share. However, Manny stopped short of agreeing to a flat fee and not getting a cut from the pay-per-view money, which is what Money wants. 

At some point, they will come to an agreement on this portion of the money because Manny is going to be forced to make even more concessions. 

Pacquiao has looked less dominant in recent outings, and even lost his last fight, albeit in a bad decision, to Timothy Bradley. And while Manny clearly remains one of the sport's two biggest stars, he is losing some luster from his shine. 

Pac-Man and promoter Bob Arum are mired in a list of tired opponents. This led to them settling for a fourth battle against Juan Manuel Marquez for his next fight. And while this should be an excellent money-making fight, it is not going to get fans overly hyped. We've already seen this one play out. 

Meanwhile, Floyd has up-and-comers like Sergio Martinez, according to ElManana.com.mx (h/t BoxingNews24.Com), and Saul Alvarez hungry for a shot with the champ. 

The stock on both those fighters is rapidly rising, and a fight with Mayweather would surely get fans buzzing and the money rolling. 

The bottom line is, Mayweather's path to great wealth is far more easily accessible at this point than Pacquiao's. 

This will lead to Manny becoming increasingly eager to Floyd's demands, and that will lead to this fight happening. 

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