Silva-St. Pierre and Pacquiao-Mayweather Are Fights Fans Want To See

Todd JacksonJul 25, 2010

Is the hottest topic on the planet an oil spill in the gulf, international diplomacy, Lindsey Lohan, the economy, global warming maybe?

While all those topics are hot button issues, what many inquiring minds really want to know is when are Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. going to hook ‘em up?

Now that would be breaking news that would stop the rotation of the planet, cure global warming, plug the gusher, erase Lohan’s legacy from history, initiate world peace, and make politicians tell the truth.

This fight has been salivated over for years now, and any viable commitment to a deal avoided like the bubonic plague by those parties involved in the negotiations.

The tease of an actual match up is more akin to a Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition when what the fans really want is a Penthouse centerfold.

It has become the elusive white whale of the sweet science. The fans assume the role of Captain Ahab. Desperately seeking the one fight they truly want, not any fight will do, they must have this historic matchup.

Which, consequentially, would be the biggest boxing match possible in recent memory.

Yet, idle sit the fighters, idle sit the negotiations, frustrated and confused sit the fans. Why, why, oh why won't these two get on the same page and prove, once and for all, who the best pound-for-pound boxer of this generation happens to be?

There are far more questions regarding that scenario than there are answers. Think an elephant on a see-saw with a cricket. That's how lopsided the questions and answers have become, the rest is just speculation and rhetoric.

Both sides have their reasons, both fan bases have their opinions, but the core issue is still heated like liquid hot magma. It wont change until the two sign on the dotted line and offer the routing and account numbers of where they want their fifty million dollars deposited.

Surely, like livestock being herded to the slaughter, this is all posturing to build up the biggest fight of this generation. Surely, they want to fight, intend to fight, and will fight.

But not before we are whipped into a frenzy, clamoring over our own opinions and involvement in the process that allows us to be the depositors of said fifty million mentioned before.

It doesn't take any of the sting out of the build up and let down over and over again. Yet these two are not alone in their ability to drive fight fans into a fever pitch as they represent a fight almost everyone wants to see.

Just across the tracks, on the other side of town there is another duo, from a different yet similar neighborhood as Pacquiao and Mayweather. There is another mega fight that many fight fans desire. There is another mega fight that may never happen.

For the pure boxing fan, nothing would be more enticing than "Money" Mayweather and "Pac Man" going to war. For the mixed martial arts fan, there is no more exciting match up than Anderson Silva vs. Georges St. Pierre.

These two elite MMA kings have been dancing around each other on every one's pound for pound list for years. Laying to waste adversary after adversary, they can find no pure challenge to their abilities.

While they continue to put on engaging (or not so much in some cases) fights for fans, there seems to be something missing. Randy Couture had Chuck Liddell, Fedor had Nog, Machida now has Shogun.

Who represents the arc of Silva and GSP’s career? Some might argue Penn for GSP but that score has been settled. Today, with a clean slate of prior opponents, forgetting the past and looking forward, who challenges these fighters, who truly challenges them?

The list is a short one.

For Silva, maybe Chael Sonnen, possibly Vitor Belfort, then who? A trip to LHW provides a few answers, John Jones, Rashad Evans, the champ “Shogun” Rua maybe.

For GSP, Koscheck is first in line, the newly acquired Jake Shileds, other than that he has destroyed all other threats decisively. Maybe like Silva a move up could provide answers but the time it would take to establish himself could also be perceived as time wasted.

When we say time wasted what we mean is time that could be spent preparing for what truly and honestly could be considered “The biggest fight in MMA history”. No, not the every other UFC event biggest fight in MMA history, this would actually fit the bill.

Short of the once desired Couture vs. Emelianenko, or the present day Fedor vs. Lesnar superfights that fans lost sleep over, this fight is sitting right in Dana White’s lap. It’s do-able, it’s feasible, and yet for some reason it’s not an option.

Even with these two warriors well established in their prime as not only UFC champions but pound for pound champions the fans are asked to get behind fights with guys like Sonnen for Silva and Koscheck for GSP. GSP already beat Kos by the way.

Those matchups are fine and dandy, and a good fight is a good fight names be damned, but it’s the allure of the superfight just lingering on the outskirts that really intrigues fight fans. That is the fight, that if put to a vote, many loyal MMA fans would love to see.

It's surely not the only fight people would pick, but it's a pound for pound match up amongst all time match ups. This is a once in a generation opportunity for an organization, a match maker, the fighters, and the fans.

That final statement rings true for both debates. The one pulling for a match between boxing kings Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., or mixed martial arts kings Georges. St. Pierre and Anderson Silva.

The fighters are legendary, the fans ultimate respect for their talent and their craft rock solid, and they want to see them compete. They want to see them compete against one another.

Is that too much to ask?