Manny Pacquiao Shocker: The Floyd Mayweather JR Deal
By Geno McGahee
The surprising decision by Bob Arum to move his star attraction, Manny Pacquiao, from HBO to Showtime has shaken up the boxing world, and in a bad way…and a good way as well. Showtime/CBS did the right thing and quickly jumped at the opportunity to launch their pay per view side of their boxing/MMA.
They have put on events in the past, most notably the second meeting between Diego Corrales and Jose Luis Castillo, as well as some Mike Tyson fights, but they never maintained the way that HBO does. In fact, HBO has been widely criticized for putting bouts on PPV that were not worthy of the showcase. The subscribers that pay for the boxing portion of the network, typically shell out another 50 or 60 bucks to see a live fight, which realistically, should be discounted for those boxing fans that pay HBO monthly.
Showtime sees the money in this, but they needed a fighter to merit the extra cost and they’ve got one now in Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao, 53-3-2, 38 KO’s. The Filipino powerhouse has had successful runs as the showcase on PPV events, including wins over Erik Morales, Juan Manuel Marquez, Oscar De La Hoya, Joshua Clottey, Antonio Margarito, Miguel Cotto, and Ricky Hatton. He’s explosive and exciting and he can be hit, which makes him a fan-friendly fighter.
With CBS owning Showtime, the possibilities are endless to push this fight with Shane Mosley on May 7th. More people tune into CBS then HBO and Showtime combined and it will open up a new market to the sport, which is a good thing, but not all is good. The main thing on every fight fan’s mind is the eventual meeting between Manny and Floyd Mayweather, JR. With “Money” Mayweather being an HBO fighter, it’s hard to imagine this fight going forward with yet another obstacle in the way.
It will take a promotional genius to put together Pacquiao-Mayweather and so much can happen in between. Mosley could pull off an upset. It is highly unlikely, but he has a punch and should he land it perfectly and the stars are aligned and Pacquiao isn’t looking, he could possibly score a knockout win. If that were to happen, then the Mayweather fight is officially dead. Right now, its pulse is very weak.
Mayweather could lose as well. With Uncle Roger not going to prison for beating up a woman, he is now free to train his nephew again, and it’s hard to imagine Floyd serving any time. So, it may be back to business soon and a direct return to the ring against Pacquiao is not something that I think they will do. A tune up is in order.
Should Floyd lose the tune up, the biggest bout since Oscar De La Hoya – Felix Trinidad would be dead in the water as well. The people want the fight now, but considering that it hasn’t happened yet, it’s hard to imagine it occurring with even more reasons why it shouldn’t.
One of the biggest problems is that Floyd has little more than his name at this point. The momentum is with Manny Pacquiao. He’s been active. He’s been in the spotlight inside of the ring, and Mayweather has been slowly converting his fans into his detractors. The negative coverage by the media, overstating the personal situations of the fighter to grab ratings, has also hurt the career of the once pound for pound undisputed best. Now there is a dispute but it will apparently never get settled.
The bad news with this Showtime/HBO deal is that we lost what we probably would have never had in the first place. The Pacquiao-Mayweather JR fight is now even more of a long shot, but there is an upside to this switch in networks.
With CBS linking with Bob Arum, there is the possibility that boxing could make its way back to network TV. It has been stated that the network would promote the undercard fighters, give a lot of attention to the main event on the network, and do whatever it could to push the fight and the fighters. That is good news.
Remember the first series of the Contender and what it did for the fighters that were involved. Sergio Mora, Alfonso Gomez, and Peter Manfredo, JR., became household names because the show presented their home lives and what it takes to be a fighter to an entirely new audience. The sound effects of the punches landing, the ridiculous editing, made it tough to watch for some fight fans, but the end result was good for the sport. For non-boxing fans to become boxing fans, they need to present the sport in a good light and show the fighter as a human being. CBS may just do that and the loss of Mayweather-Pacquiao is not a bad trade off if boxing begins to head back into the right direction.
I may be too much of an optimist. Boxing is a sport that we nearly all have a love/hate relationship with. At its best, it is the most wonderful sport ever created. At its worst, you want to hang your head in shame as boxing fans and throw your remote through the TV. Boxing is a child with a lot of potential but has a tendency of always screwing up. With CBS stepping in, we could have something special if they do the right thing. We are asking a lot though with Bob Arum involved.
Manny Pacquiao will fight Shane Mosley and will defeat him and then the decision will have to be made. If Floyd Mayweather, JR., is not an option, then who is there left to defeat? I’m sure Bob Arum will find some fighter, recycle some name, or bail somebody out of prison to be the punching bag for his money machine. Pacquiao’s career may end up being the clubbing over overmatched has beens and never weres…a disappointing last run.