Why Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Must Fight in Joe Frazier's Honor

There have been a lot of obstacles that have kept Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, the two best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, from squaring off in the biggest superfight that the sport of boxing has ever known. But one thing that should bring them together is Joe Frazier. 

In case you haven't heard, Frazier is battling liver cancer and is in hospice care. There were false reports that he passed away on Sunday, but he is still doing what he has done all his life: fight. 

Boxing has fallen on hard times in recent years. There are very few marquee fighters left, in fact, after Pacquiao and Mayweather, you could argue that there are none in the sport anymore. 

Mayweather made headlines last week by saying that he wanted to fight Pacquiao on Cinco de Mayo. 

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"Floyd Mayweather Jr. does not plan on taking another 16-month vacation from the boxing ring, like he did after easily outpointing Shane Mosley in May 2010.

Instead, Mayweather, who knocked out Victor Ortiz on Sept. 17, will make a relatively hasty return: May 5 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, adviser Leonard Ellerbe said.

Mayweather's opponent has not been determined but Ellerbe said, "We're looking to make the biggest fight possible and everyone knows what that fight is, the little fella."

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How serious that challenge is remains to be seen, though we will have a better idea after Pacquiao's bout with Juan Manuel Marquez.

Frazier, along with Muhammad Ali and George Foreman, helped revolutionize the sport of boxing in this country. He was an icon the likes of which few athletes ever become. He was bigger than the sport itself. 

Now would be the right time for Pacquiao and Mayweather to put aside their petty differences and do the best thing for the sport and use this fight as a way to honor Frazier's legacy and bring boxing back to prominence the way it was when he was in the prime of his career. 

Pacquiao and Mayweather are students of boxing and no doubt have an immense appreciation, love and respect for Frazier. 

It sounds like something out of a movie, but at times a great tragedy can help two people put aside their differences and work together to do something that is bigger than an individual person. 

Frazier is still with us, so what better gift could Mayweather and Pacquiao give him than the biggest fight that boxing has ever seen?

Even if Frazier does not make it to see that fight happen, he will know that the sport he worked so hard for will be in the spotlight in a way that hasn't been seen since the "Thrilla in Manila" in 1975.