By John F. McKenna (McJack)
Now that the hoped for Mega Fight between undefeated WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (42-0, 26 KO’s) and WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao (54-3-2, 38 KO’s) is off indefinitely what are “Pacman’s” options?
With Floyd being sentenced to 90 days in jail for domestic violence it is unrealistic to think that the fight everyone wants to see will happen before the fall of 2012.
That leaves the Pacquiao camp with a major problem. It is pretty certain that Manny wants the Mayweather fight badly. It is unclear at this point if Top Rank CEO Bob Arum really wants the fight. There have been conflicting stories coming out for weeks as to whether or not negotiations have been taking place between the Pacquiao and Mayweather camps. Arum’s vague comments about unnamed investors being involved in the fight negotiations are then countered by Mayweather who denies any knowledge that anything is going on.
There has been bad blood between Arum and Mayweather since their acrimonious split in 2006. The situation was not helped when the Mayweather camp arbitrarily reserved the MGM Grand in Las Vegas for May 5 of 2012 for a fight with who they described as the “Little Fella”. Of course everyone assumed that the Mayweather camp was referring to Pacquiao. Arum was upset that Mayweather would be presumptuous enough to pick a venue and a date before even contacting Arum, who is Pacquiao’s promoter. The venue and date of course are part of the negotiating process.
It is thought by many that Arum’s dislike for Mayweather clouds his judgment with regard to putting together a Pacquiao – Mayweather fight and that he will only make the arrangements at Manny’s insistence. The question now becomes with Mayweather temporarily out of the picture, who does “Pacman” fight next?
After the 3rd Pacquiao – Marquez fight Arum spoke of matching them yet again. But many boxing fans think it would be more of the same with Pacquiao winning a close controversial decision. The newly resurgent Miguel Cotto is an option as is Timothy Bradley. But in Bradley’s case he has never demonstrated his ability to be a major draw and that would hamper his chances to get a title fight with Pacquiao. Cotto on the other hand has a huge fan base in the Hispanic community which may influence Arum’s decision. After Pacquiao’s lack luster performance against Marquez a good showing against another opponent would raise his marketability back to where it was before November 12.
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