Manny Pacquiao – Floyd Mayweather JR: IS THERE STILL HOPE FOR BOXING?
By Geno McGahee
I have been very critical of the sport lately and with good reason. The recent Abner Mares – Joseph Agbeko fiasco didn’t help my growing disgust, but as a boxing fan, you usually get beaten up quite often.
There have always been glimmers of hope for the sport, but the officiating, bad matchmaking, and terrible performances by the fighters have driven much of the fans away. I am not an MMA fan by any stretch of the imagination but I have watched it from time to time, and I see why it’s winning this unofficial war with boxing. The best are typically matched with the best, it’s well marketed, and the fighters are in there ready to go to war. The excitement that boxing fans used to be accustomed to, which is now long gone, exists in the fans of the MMA.
What saves boxing? I have been hoping for the networks to pick it up, some heavyweights to shake up the division and bring back the excitement, better pay per views, and less nonsense, but it’s not looking good. What most people are considering the savior of the sport is a showdown between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather, JR., but this is a fight that has a whole lot of “what ifs” involved.
What if Manny Pacquiao loses to Juan Manuel Marquez? Marquez has fought to a draw in their first fight, lost a split decision in the second fight, and believes he has beaten Pacquiao on two occasions. He has come the closest in recent years and has found a way to control Manny and land his shots. Marquez is the underdog, but he has a chance to upset the boxing world and come away with a decision win.
What if Manny Pacquiao retires? He has constantly spoken of his retirement from the sport in recent years and there aren’t many worlds left for him to conquer. He’s cleaned up the old timers, beating Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales, Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto, and Shane Mosley. He has moved up in weight, captured multiple titles, and has nothing left to prove in the eyes of many. He may be as tired of the “off again/on again” Mayweather fight, and may just hang them up and enjoy his retirement from the sport.
What if Floyd Mayweather JR loses to Victor Ortiz? Ortiz is raw, but he’s young and powerful and will bring a lot of motivation into the ring in September. Floyd has been on the shelf since May of 2010 and even the great Floyd Mayweather can suffer from ring rust. His two fights back in his recent return were against the much smaller Juan Manuel Marquez and the totally shot Shane Mosley, both easy wins, but now he faces a youngster with some ambition and power. If Ortiz can find him, he may shock the world.
What if Floyd Mayweather, JR., retires…again? OK, he beats Ortiz, and then elects to ride off into the sunset again, which seems totally plausible at this point. He has done this in the past and it is certainly a big time possibility. There is consistent talk that he doesn’t want to face Pacquiao in the ring and much of his behavior tends to support that. Retirement, again, seems like the more likely choice for Mayweather.
What if they can’t agree? They won’t be able to agree to all terms and that is why this fight won’t happen. Manny won’t submit to the blood tests that Mayweather demands and then you have the money game, and the many other issues that they will have to overcome in order for this fight to be a go. The public demand is still there for this fight, but it won’t be there forever. The two agreeing is the long shot here. It is highly unlikely that they will ever fight.
Perhaps a shake up of boxing is in order. A reboot of the entire system. Marquez will be Pacquiao and Ortiz will beat Mayweather and then the restart of boxing will begin. It is a long shot that this will happen, but it may be better for boxing then Floyd taking on Manny in the end. Make no mistake, for boxing to survive, it must go through some major changes or it will be out for the count.
