Mayweather vs. Pacquiao: Factors Preventing Potential Superfight
Anticipation surrounding the long-awaited superfight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao is higher than ever following Money's comments after his unanimous-decision win over Marcos Maidana, but there are still a lot of factors standing in the way of a potential bout.
As reported by CBSSports.com's Mike Singer, Mayweather told Showtime's Jim Gray he's willing to make the fight happen after years of negotiating and media wars with Bob Arum, Pacquiao's promoter:
"I got to go back and talk to my team. I'm not ducking or dodging no opponent. If the Manny Pacquiao fight presents itself, let's make it happen. He's got a guy in front of him [Chris Algieri on Nov. 22]. Once he gets past that task, we'll see what the future holds.
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Fans immediately leapt to their feet—is it possible that the two best fighters of the past decade will finally go head-to-head after all these years?
There's no doubt the fight itself would be boxing's biggest draw in ages, smashing PPV records in the process. It's the bout everyone wants to see, and pundits will argue the fight both need to cement their legacies as all-time greats.
It might happen, but as of right now, there are still a lot of hurdles to be overcome. Here's why fans shouldn't get too excited yet.
Animosity
It's easy to argue both fighters should just sit down and make the fight happen, but the reality isn't that simple. Mayweather fights on Showtime; Pac-Man is under contract with HBO.
Pacquiao works under Top Rank Inc., Arum's company, and Arum's feud with Mayweather is well documented. Just days before the pound-for-pound king took on Maidana in their rematch, he fired this latest shot, speaking to The Telegraph's Gareth A Davies:
"I promoted the guy for ten years and I know how difficult it was to get him in the ring with any southpaw. When you talk about a southpaw who can move like Manny, that's not the kind of opponent that Mayweather feels he would do well against. That's the problem. If Manny agreed to fight right-handed, the fight would be agreed in five minutes.
I don't give a s--t about Mayweather winning or losing on Saturday night. I don't think Mayweather will ever agree to fight Pacquiao, particularly while he has a cushy deal with Showtime. He makes money fighting anybody. I am totally disinterested in this fight with Marcos Maidana. Will I watch it? No. It doesn't mean anything to me.
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Those kind of comments are hardly going to bring a superfight any closer. Money is as vain as he is talented—if Arum thinks a steady stream of insults is going to force him into the ring with Pacquiao, he's sorely mistaken.
Both parties are on the opposite side of the boxing spectrum, and every time they appear to put in some kind of effort to come to an agreement, someone says something stupid. After years of built-up frustrations, it's hard to look past the fact you simply don't like the other people sitting around the table.
Money
Interestingly, the second part of Arum's quote is a good reason why the fight won't happen. As reported by Singer, one of the issues that eventually downed the original plans for the superfight was the distribution of the (undoubtedly enormous) profits the bout would make.
Since then, Pacquiao has lost back-to-back fights against Timothy Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez before getting his revenge on Bradley and beating Brandon Rios, both by unanimous decision.
If the 35-year-old thought Mayweather would look at that recent record and hand him a better deal this time around, Marquez's knockout blow must have left some permanent damage.
Mayweather told Jim Gray he'd make the fight work if it "presents itself." If it doesn't, he'll just keep doing what he's been doing for the past few years—make millions on his Showtime deal.
A fight with Amir Khan at Wembley Stadium would make for a massive payday, and Floyd's a businessman. The onus will be on Pacquiao to take less money to make a superfight happen, as unfair as it may seem.
Age
This factor wouldn't prevent the actual fight from happening—it would keep it from being the superfight we've been dying to see for years.
Pacquaio is a legend of the sport, deserving of the highest praise, and he proved he's still a top-level fighter in his revenge win over Bradley. But his biggest assets, and the ones that had fans dreaming of Mayweather potentially facing that first loss of his career, are slowly eroding.
Hand speed. Punching power. Bradley has a solid chin, but at his very peak, there's no way Desert Storm or Rios would have gone the distance with Pac-Man.
By contrast, Mayweather's biggest assets are still intact and will be for the future. He'll always be a masterful tactician and technician, and his legs looked just fine as he was gliding around the ring against Maidana.
Pacquiao would have a solid chance against Mayweather, but he no longer presents the threat he was two or three years ago. If the two were to fight in 2015, the bout would likely follow a similar pattern as Mayweather's rematch with Maidana—with a similar result.
It would still be an excellent fight but not the superfight fans had envisioned for years. Given the two fighters' styles, Pacqiuao simply doesn't age as well as Mayweather does. Unless the Pac-Man can show his punching power is fully back against Chris Algieri, this bout won't be worth the moniker of superfight.
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