By Jordan Buscarini
Nearly three weeks have passed since Floyd Mayweather Jr. took countless critics to school with a dominating unanimous decision victory over the future hall of famer Shane Mosley. Talks instantly sparked about the potential super fight with Manny Pacquiao, the fight that everyone would love to see for so many reasons. Not only does the very thought of this fight stimulate the minds and imagination of the biggest boxing enthusiast, but it also possesses so much intrigue that even the less than casual fan has an opinion on who would be the victor. As badly as I want to see this fight take place, I still have a strong belief that it is unlikely we see it happen for the following reasons.
1– Olympic Style Drug Testing- Floyd Mayweather Jr. believes he is doing boxing a favor by implementing this new style of drug testing, and yes, I have to say I agree with him. I must be honest, this was a matter I rarely thought of until “Sugar” Shane admitted to using EPO and steroids. I remember thinking to myself, “If someone with the success of Mosley is taking a banned substance, do I really want to know who else is?” The answer to that question is simple, YES. One thing we know for a fact, the Mayweather-Mosley fight took place with no looming questions of banned substances.
I know that when it comes to boxing there are two kinds of spectators; Floyd Mayweather fans, and everybody else. When engaged in this debate, I hear Mayweather fans ask “Why not take the test if you have nothing to hide?” I honestly have no answer to that. Please do not buy into the argument that Pacquiao is afraid of needles, the guy has numerous tattoos. Please do not buy into the fact that a blood test makes him feel weak, he’s a boxer, and he bleeds often. Now you have Pacquiao fans that ask “Why should Manny have to agree on a drug test that Floyd wants?” Now that I can answer; it is more than likely that if indeed this fight takes place it would be Manny Pacquiao’s last. His future is not in boxing, it is in politics. On the contrary Little Floyd’s future is boxing. Even after retirement Floyd has his very own Mayweather Promotions, and from a business perspective, the last thing a business man in this sport wants to see, is his sport go down the same road baseball is strolling down. This is simple, Manny, for the sport that has rocketed you to superstar status and helped develop a future for you in politics, agree to the test and rejuvenate this great sport.
2– Location- For some reason it seems that Bob Arum has developed somewhat of an obsession for Jerry Jones and his Texas palace. The dates November 6th and 13th have been placed aside at Texas Stadium for Pacquiao, which gives me the impression that Arum has no intentions on negotiating the venue for this super fight. Golden Boy honcho Richard Schaefer is going to be the man negotiating for Mayweather, and initially it seems that at this moment it would take some serious convincing by Arum to get Schaefer to bite on the idea of Texas Stadium being the venue. To me, boxing is Vegas, Vegas is boxing. I want to see the high profiled fights take place on the strip at the MGM Grand, Caesars Palace, or Mandalay Bay. For any boxing fan that has experienced the atmosphere in Las Vegas for a high profiled fight, I’m sure they would agree that the atmosphere is unlike anything in the world of sports. However, I do understand why Arum would insist on placing his prize fighter back in Texas Stadium. The way Manny Pacquiao was embraced during his fight against Joshua Clottey was absolutely amazing, and its Arum’s job to place Pacquiao in the most comfortable situation. At this stage in his career I can’t see Pacquiao agreeing to fight anywhere besides Texas Stadium, the same can be said for Mayweather at the MGM Grand. Therefore I believe this throws a huge wrench into the negotiating process.
3– The Purse- Lets go back to March, somehow both fighters agreed upon a 50-50 split on the purse. This time around, it is not going to be that easy. Mayweather now has back to back fights that have eclipsed 1 million buys, Pacquiao does not. The numbers for Pacquiao’s fight with Clottey were impressive but they failed to match Mayweather’s numbers in the Marquez fight or his latest bout with Mosley. This has to be considered when negotiating the purse, and regardless what type of star power both fighters bring to the table, I find it very unlikely that team Mayweather agrees to anything less than 60-40. When negotiating, ego’s come into play, and I also find it unlikely that Pacquiao’s camp agrees to anything less than 50-50. One thing that could prevent this from being a problem is that a 50-50 purse in a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight will accumulate more money than a 70-30 purse in any other fight that the two legends would have to resort to if these negotiations fall through. I believe both sides are smart enough to realize this.
With those three reasons being stated, I do feel that it’s unlikely that a fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao takes place. Let’s just hope for the sake of the sport, that these two fighters can come to agreements and settle the debate of who is the greatest fighter of this generation.
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Jordan Buscarini graduated from Southern Utah University in 2010 with a degree in broadcasting with a minor in journalism. Is currently the Sports Director at Castle Country Radio in Price, Utah as well as the host of the Daily Sports Show “Drive Time Sports”