Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather Jr: Will Boxing's Big Fight Happen?

Well boxing fans, this is the week. We have been patiently waiting for several months now—not for a fight, but for an announcement—and it will finally be delivered this week.

Manny Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum said that due to reservations he has for the potential mega-fight between his client and Floyd Mayweather he will be forced to give a decision on whether or not the fight is happening.

The fight is pegged for November 13 and will take place at either Cowboy Stadium in Dallas or the MGM Grand Casino in Las Vegas.

It has been a bumpy ride over the past few months fight fans, and your guess is as good as mine as to whether the bout that could save boxing will actually come to fruition. However, actions speak louder than words in this case, and actions from both camps give better insight on the matter.

The most recent decision by Mayweather should keep fight fans optimistic. Bengals wide-receiver Chad Ochocinco has started to train 10 hours a day with Mayweather in Las Vegas according to published reports. Ochocinco is an enthusiastic boxing fan with an ego as big as Mayweather's, and I doubt that Floyd would be doing such intense workouts if he knew that the fight between himself and Pacquiao wasn’t imminent.

On the other hand, a few weeks ago Mayweather declared that he was taking a two-year layoff from the sport of boxing, an assertion that made fans sick to their stomach. As fans began to clamor about Mayweather’s decision, Roger Mayweather (Floyd’s uncle and trainer) stepped in the conversation to set the record straight.

“Don’t worry about him—he ain’t taking no two years off,” said Roger Mayweather according to FightHype.com. “Floyd, right now, he just came off a damn near two-year layoff. So why would he take another two years off? That’s stupid.”

Since Roger Mayweather’s blunt clarification, the verbal jabs from the Mayweather camp have yet to cease. The Mayweather entourage has stated every possible hypothetical scenario known to man as to why Floyd will win a possible fight against Pacquiao.

We already know that the Mayweathers can talk trash (which is probably why they have libel law suits against them currently), but it would be absolutely unethical, even for them, to insult Pacquiao without proving anything in the ring.

Unfortunately, both Mayweather and Pacquiao have lesser fighters in their back pockets in case this fight falls through. Mayweather has discussed a potential fight between himself and Sergio Martinez, while Arum would like Pacquiao to fight Antonio Margarito if the two boxers can’t reach an agreement.

For the longest time, neither side could agree about the drug testing, which is why the first match-up between Mayweather and Pacquiao didn’t happen in March, but now, the dispute is over the large purse at stake. According to published reports, Pacquiao denied a 60-40 split in Mayweather’s favor.

In a perfect world, money, drug-testing and smack talking would never get in the way of a fight that means so much to the fans. However, in reality Mayweather is greedy, Pacquiao is suspicious and we are stuck in the middle as boxing fans.

Don’t let that get to you though fight fans. There’s plenty of reasons to believe that this fight will happen—financial compensation, legacy, and pride just to name a few.

Both fighters have been relatively soft-spoken on the issue, but you know what they say—it’s always quietest just before the storm.

Pacquiao-Mayweather is a planned natural disaster that will rock the boxing world to its foundation, and both fighters know that. Now it’s up to them to decide this week.