Floyd Mayweather, JR: Nowhere to Run, Nowhere to Hide – FINALLY Signs to Fight Manny Pacquiao on May 2nd
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By “Big” Bill Bradshaw
I had my son staying with me last week. He comes for the holidays and it’s the highlight of my year. I can remember holding him up to the sky as a child and telling him bedtime stories that he asked a million questions on. Now, I am resigned to the fact that I’ll have to look up when we’re talking. Last week, we did a lot of that…talking. We discussed everything from the history of the world to the history of boxing but, as we spoke, I detected an unease within him that suggested he had something to tell me…something huge. When we got a quiet moment, I broached the subject and I could see he was struggling terribly with making his revelation.
I knew what was coming and I placed a hand on his broad shoulders as I told him it was all okay, that we are what we are and we just needed to be happy in our own skin. The words seemed trapped in his throat but, eventually…finally, he blurted them out. I thought I was ready, I thought I could be man enough but no matter how hard I shake my head, his voice just won’t stay quiet. “Dad…I’m…I’m a…I’m a Mayweather fan”!!! Sweet Jesus help me. I thought of the Westboro Baptist Church and I had the urge to sprinkle holy water on him, quote the scriptures, tie him down and draw the demon from him with Latin chants that I would scream aloud as he laid rolling on the bed hurling abuse at me in ancient Aramaic. But…I hugged him and said we’d get through it…one day at a time. He’s my son and I love him….still.
He went back to his mom yesterday and the big announcement came late into the evening our time. I believe it was made at 6:19 PM on February 20th 2015….a date worthy of its place in the annals of history. On May 2nd, the two greatest fighters of a generation go head to head for the right to be remembered as the greatest of our time. But the announcement came as no surprise. After all, where was Mayweather to go if he didn’t agree to this bout? He has wriggled his way out of this fight many times, even paid huge compensation for false allegations made but he’d avoided the fighting pride of the Philippines long enough. After Pacquiao’s destruction of Chris Algieri, Top Rank & Co went after Floyd with a vengeance. There was a media hunt to find him and Pacquiao took every opportunity afforded to him to call Floyd out during TV interviews. The jungle drums were beating across the world and ‘Moany’ Mayweather found that he couldn’t face the public without hollers of abuse. The $50 million offer to Cotto was swept aside by wave after wave of public unrest and still Pacquiao/Top Rank came relentlessly, goading the little guy into the fight the world wanted to see.
Mayweather/TMT believed that they could wait Pacquiao out. The January 30th deadline seemed absolutely rigid when Top Rank laid it down so it seemed like a good idea at the time if Floyd asked for an extension and Pacquiao refused. Mayweather would claim he was willing to do a deal but Arum wasn’t. But Bob Arum was digging the heels in on this one and they gave Floyd just enough rope. TMT went silent. Pacquiao and Michael Koncz in particular, were vocal and the public outcry became unbearably loud. Floyd Mayweather, JR. was smoked out of hiding by the combined pressure of Bob Arum and boxing fans from around the world, as Michael Buffer would say. Last week, Manny Pacquiao announced that a deal was almost done and that Mayweather had asked that he be allowed make the announcement. Of course, Pacquiao/Arum agreed. If Floyd wanted to give the world the impression he was in control of negotiations, then so be it. As far as Pacquiao is concerned the only boss that counts is the one who emerges in victory on May 2nd. I read some time ago that Mayweather has never faced anyone that he believes could beat him. Castillo and De La Hoya would have dented that confidence but, certainly, going into those bouts, Floyd would have felt that he had the beating of those men. Pacquiao, however, is a different prospect.
Floyd Mayweather, JR. does not want this fight. Were it not for the spotlight aimed directly on him, I would suspect an injury in training…probably to his hands and the fight to be called off. But no one would buy that now. He simply had no place left to hide except the ring in the MGM. There will be a lot said and written between now and May 2nd but the answers we all want will be available to us on May 3rd. I just hope one thing…that the result is a fair one and that Manny Pacquiao doesn’t join the Castillo, De La Hoya list in the moments after the judges’ scorecards are read out. In Europe, it’s common knowledge that a fighter needs a KO to beat the hometown boy in either Germany or Italy and Floyd is very much the Nevada Kid. I expect Pacquiao to win convincingly but, I’m not a judge and he’s been the subject of a disgraceful decision in the past…even Tim Bradley would accept that at this stage. Floyd has also been the subject of disgraceful decisions but he has never been the victim of one. Let’s just hope that the fight is a fair one and that a decent referee allows Manny Pacquiao the latitude to inflict Floyd’s first “Official” defeat. That way, I can save my only born son from the dark side and teach him that, sometimes, good does win over evil even in the real world of boxing corruption and brown envelopes.
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