Mayweather vs. Pacquiao: A Story of Will It or Won’t It Ever Happen?
Manny “Pac-Man” Pacquiao is set to fight Chris Algieri in just a few hours. After this bout, the 35-year old boxer and eight-division world champion has no future matches set after this. Neither is he confirming if he will be hanging his gloves and retire. Rumor has it that he will retire in 2016 to focus on politics. However, with no certainty in his future fights, the million dollar question is expected to arise once again, “Will a Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight ever happen?”
Floyd “Money” Mayweather has a rematch against Marcos Maidana this coming September, but after that fight, he has no future matches set as well. So, is it possible? Is a Mayweather vs. Pacquiao match possible in 2015?
Let’s take a look at the past negotiations between the two boxers with a few absurd requests in between, which all ended in failure up to this time. Then, you can try to predict if there is hope for this elusive match.
May-July 2009 – Argument over 60-40 or 50-50 splitÂ
According to bleacherreport.com, Money initially offered Pac-Man a 60-40 split, which Bob Arum and Freddie Roach dismissed. It even reached a point where Arum said that Money might not even get a 50-50 split.
According to James Slater of Eastside Boxing, Arum uttered, “You can tell Floyd Mayweather that Bob Arum says he’s delusional.”
No deals were made final then.
September-December 2009 – Olympic-style blood testing
Mayweather Sr., Money’s dad, implied that Pac-Man is using supplements, specifically steroids.
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Thus, the negotiations between Money and Pac-Man were hindered by the former’s request for an Olympic-style blood testing to be administered by the United States Anti-Doping Agency. This type of testing wasn’t performed on non-Olympic boxing fights. This type of testing entailed random urine and blood testing from the time training begins up to the day of the actual match.
Pac-man didn’t agree to this. He wanted scheduled tests or a cutoff date for blood testing, which is at least seven days before the actual match. The Pinoy boxer said that the reason behind this is his fear of needles and his belief that drawing blood too close to a fight will make him weak.Â
Due to this, no deals were made final then.
June-July 2010 – Teases and more negotiations
(Photo from: espn.go.com)
Arum announced that the blood testing issue has been resolved and only Money’s signature was needed to make the fight a reality. To add to the tease, Top Rank Promotions even posted a  “Money Time: Mayweather’s Decision” countdown clock on their website to emphasize the 14-day deadline. However, the deadline passed without fruition of the match. It appeared during this time that Mayweather is the one holding negotiations up.Â
No deals were made final then, but talks were said to be ongoing.
2011 – Parting ways?
More serious negotiations were said to have continued in 2011 however it appeared that the two sides were already heading on different directions. Money had a controversial match with Victor Ortiz, head butting involved. Meanwhile, Pac-Man defeated Mosley and Marquez during this year.
No deals were made final then.
2012 – Pac-Man’s losses and Money’s legal issues
In 2012, Pac-Man experienced two defeats – one from Timothy Bradley and another from Juan Manuel Marquez, which involved one of the most costly knockouts in boxing history. Meanwhile, Money won a tough battle on the ring against Cotto, but lost to a legal battle. He received a domestic violence conviction and had to serve two months in jail.
It seems that both sides continue to go on separate ways, having matches against other boxers except against each other.
No deals were made final then.
2013 – No Arum, Money might fight
(Bob Arum. Photo from: blacksportsonline.com)
In 2013, The Telegraph reported that Money said Pac-Man’s association with Arum is the reason why the fight will not happen. “We all know the Pacquiao fight, at this particular time, will never happen, and the reason why the fight won’t happen is because I will never do business with Bob Arum again in life, and Pacquiao is Bob Arum’s fighter,” he said.
January 2014 – Fight for charity
At the start of the year, fighthype.com published an interview with Money where he called Pac-Man a “desperate dog” who is chasing a megabout due to his tax problems.
As a rebuttal, Pac-Man challenged Money to a fight for charity. In a phone interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer, Pac-Man said:
“I challenge him to include in our fight contract that both of us will not receive anything out of this fight.”
“We will donate all the proceeds from the fight—guaranteed prize, should there be any, gate receipts, pay-per-view and endorsements—to charities around the world.”
“Floyd, if you’re a real man, fight me. Let’s do it for the love of boxing and for the fans. Let’s do it not for the sake of money. Let’s make the boxing fans happy.”Â
No deals were made final then.Â
September 2014 – Absurd request
ABS-CBN News reported that Money may fight Pac-Man if he signs with his own company, Mayweather Promotions.
“If Pacquiao signed with Mayweather Promotions, then the fight could happen,” Mayweather told Black Sports Online. “But if he’s not signed to Mayweather Promotions, I’m not gonna fight (him).”
This appears to be an impossible request as Pac-Man has just signed to extend his contract with Top Rank Promotions.Â
Thus, no deals were made final up to this time.Â
What do you think?
Will a Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight ever happen?
Share your thoughts in the comments.
Sources: bleacherreport.com, complex.com, wikipedia.com
Mayweather vs. Pacquiao: A Story of Will It or Won’t It Ever Happen?
