Floyd Mayweather, Manny Pacquiao Meeting Is Ideal Tease for Potential Superfight

Lost in the shuffle of all the hysteria around Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao exchanging phone numbers at a Miami Heat game on Tuesday night is how these two master promoters conned the whole world into believing this was necessary. 

All of the buzz started thanks to the Heat tweeting out that Mayweather and Pacquiao were in the American Airlines Arena:

So it's just a coincidence that Pacquiao and Mayweather happened to be at the same game, sitting on opposite sides of the arena while they were reportedly deep in negotiations to lock horns on May 2. 

Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports reported on Jan. 13 that Pacquiao had agreed to the terms of a fight with Mayweather and was just waiting for his opponent's approval.

"

Promoter Bob Arum told Yahoo Sports on Tuesday that Manny Pacquiao has agreed to terms for a May 2 bout with Floyd Mayweather, and that the only thing in the way of the long-awaited fight occurring is Mayweather's approval.

Arum said Mayweather's representatives have also agreed to the deal but have not been able to get Mayweather's agreement. However, there is no verification from anyone representing Mayweather whether Arum's side is accurate.

"

After the two met in Miami, Tim Reynolds of the Associated Press noted on Twitter that Pacquiao gave Mayweather his cell phone number:

Joseph Goodman of The Miami Herald also noted on the social media site that Pacquiao claims this is the first time they have ever spoken:

Excuse me while I take out my detective hat, which strictly prohibits me from believing in coincidences, but there's no way all of these things just randomly happened.

It's also hard to fathom that Pacquiao and Mayweather never spoke directly after going through a long, drawn-out round of negotiations in late 2009 and early 2010. While it's not impossible, there's just too much here that reeks of promotion. 

And that's not a bad thing. Mayweather and Pacquiao aren't idiots. They understand what signing a deal to fight will mean to sports fans. It's the only potential boxing match that can rival any of the major sports in terms of national conversation. 

Even though Mayweather doesn't need to fight Pacquiao—his last fight against Marcos Maidana reportedly drew 925,000 pay-per-view buys—there really aren't many options he can turn to that will help him top that number. It's one of the unfortunate byproducts of beating all your opponents with ease. 

Pacquiao, on the other hand, seems to need Mayweather at this point in his career. The 36-year-old has seen his stock take a dive lately, His rematch against Timothy Bradley drew somewhere between 90,000 and 140,000 fewer buys than the first bout, per Dan Rafael of ESPN.com. 

Bob Arum, Pacquiao's promoter, is quoted by Rafael as saying that number was "a disappointment." 

The bottom dropped out for Pacquiao in November against Chris Algieri, attracting the fewest buyers in years for the superstar, per boxing businessman Rick Glaser:

With such a steep decline in pay-per-view sales, it's no wonder that Iole's report states Pacquiao is willing to give Mayweather a favorable "60-40 purse split."

This "totally random meeting" is like the first stage of a professional wrestling rivalry. When WWE wants to tease out a feud, it puts two stars in the ring at a random moment, whether it's to take part in a tag team match or to clear the ring of clutter, leaving them standing alone. 

WWE plants the seeds, gradually building until that moment when everything comes together. Mayweather and Pacquiao are playing all of us like a flute.

Boxing is different from wrestling because deals have to be agreed on, but this doesn't feel like any of the previous talks between Mayweather and Pacquiao. There was a time when they would have avoided each other like the plague. 

There have been various insults hurled in the past, including some controversial statements by Mayweather, yet none of it seems to matter now. It's obvious these two want to make this fight happen, though dragging out negotiations keeps building suspense. 

Given how sensitive things have been between Mayweather and Pacquiao before, it's possible something could happen that will send this fight tumbling down the rabbit hole once again. If we have learned anything from their reported negotiations, as well as Tuesday's "chance" meeting, it's that fans should be legitimately excited for the first time in years. 

Putting Mayweather and Pacquiao in the same building was the first step. Hoping that they eventually see the light, agree to terms and set the May 2 date for the fight is the one gigantic step remaining. Fans got their tease on Tuesday, now it's time to bring the whole thing home.