Pacquiao Vs. Mayweather: Sacrifice Needed To Make Next Mega-Fight

Just days removed from the absolute annihilation that Manny Pacquiao unleashed on Oscar De La Hoya, the sport of boxing has something they haven't experienced in a while: buzz for another mega-fight. The only problem? One half of the equation is retired.

But that's why money is green and that's why mainstream boxing fans are backing the charge to see the world's best pound-for-pound fighter take on the recently moth-balled pound-for-pound best. The public wants to see Pacquiao take on Floyd Mayweather Jr. in what is the last big fight out there that can truly capture the casual fan's interest. There is no other way to say it: this fight would be epic.

But in order to get there, a lot needs to happen. Mayweather has to come out of retirement and want to fight Pacquiao, who in turn, needs to want to fight him. The dollars have to be right and the time needs to be right, preferably giving both a chance to prepare, promote and hopefully be closer to a better economical time for this country, the latter being the most difficult battle to make happen these days.

But based on the $54.95 price tag of this past Saturday's affair, it's not good enough for Top Rank and Golden Boy Promotions to just do business as usual. No, the business of boxing needs to - for once - be better and look for an opportunity to reclaim some of the people that have dropped the sport from their radar. If there was one word for what needs to happen to make this event greater than the sum of its parts, it would be sacrifice.

- Sacrifice by making the event just $29.95...no strings attached. That's reasonable for a ppv and enticing enough where you'd get the group buys as well as the individual buys.

- Sacrifice by having just three fights on the card, including the main event. Make it a short, sweet and excitement packed card that leaves people saying, "Wow...that was well worth it. When's the next one?"

- Sacrifice by putting two great televised undercard matches on the card. Cross the promotional border and make great fights happen. Make it a night to celebrate boxing and not a quick dash for cash.

- Sacrifice by showing the skeptics that you can make it happen and by proving that you have the best interests of the sport in mind.

Of course, I don't believe any of the above will happen. I think you'll see the fight in the summer of 2009, it will be $50+ to buy and that once it's done, the promoters will have squandered their last chance to make boxing relevant on a major stage again. These little blips on the sports radar aren't good enough anymore. The people want to believe.

It will just take some sacrifice to get them to believe.

Josh Nason - josh [at] ropesringandcage [dot com] - has published MMA, wrestling and boxing blog Ropes, Ring and Cage.com since 2007. If you are using any content or recapping from this site, please include a link to www.ropesringandcage.com. Thank you for your support!