Mayweather vs. Pacquiao: Both Men Have Everything to Lose by Refusing to Fight

If Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather do not fight one another, it is going to be a bigger loss for them than it will be for what boxing fans are left.

No one is going to remember either fighter for their dominance in this era unless they man up and face one another. They may be remembered for being the two best fighters in the same generation that never got in the ring, but that will be a footnote in the history of the sport.

Greats like Muhammad Ali, Tyson and Sugar Ray Robinson weren’t afraid to fight anyone, and actually acted on their confidence they had in themselves and their ability.

Mayweather claims he is one of the greatest fighters to ever live, but if he continues to just talk instead of act on his words, history will not remember him that way.

Bart Barry of 15rounds.com poignantly writes that,

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“If this time in boxing is not the Pacquiao Era, in other words, what is it? A mediocre stretch of lumbering European heavyweights and overpriced mismatches that compose either boxing’s final era or an eventually forgotten one. Mayweather is the king, as the saying goes, and boxing is nothing—and that makes Mayweather the king of nothing. If Mayweather never does fight Pacquiao, he won’t be remembered for not fighting Pacquiao. He won’t be remembered at all.”

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Pacquiao represents the greatest opponent that Mayweather could face, and his reputation hinges upon beating him.

If Mayweather is really as confident that he can dispatch Pacquiao as he claims, it makes no sense for him not to step into the ring and just act upon it.

Barry points out that,

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“No Mayweather victory is a victory for anyone but Mayweather. Figures like that do not live on as legends; they are either forgotten in time or become cautionary tales.”

 

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