“The more I talk to you, the more confused I get about current Mayweather Pacquiao situation,” exclaimed Big Steve as we embarked on a slow jog through Griffith Park:” Can you tell me who is ducking who?”
That is exactly the question I asked HBO’s color commentator, Jim Lampley last Friday while at Wildcard Boxing club.
“It’s really hard to say at this point, who is ducking who,” replied Lampley: “I think perception for a long time was that Mayweather was ducking Pacquiao. The perception at this time, probably among most fans would be that Pacquiao is ducking Mayweather. The bottom line is they don’t like each other. Their business representatives aren’t happy about doing business with each other.”
So how did Mayweather change that perception?
“Floyd did the brilliant thing,” Lampley said:” He made a deal with MGM Grand on May 5, clearly as a way of buying insurance against legal system. It paid off perfectly for him in the form of the ruling that he doesn’t have to face his sentence until June and can remain at large until May so that he can do his civic duty as a Las Vegas citizen and earn millions of dollars for the community. That gave him back the upper hand and put him in the position to call out Pacquiao, because he knows dog gone good and well that Pacquiao and Arum had already moved forward and moved away from the idea of even trying to make the fight, as they were looking for an opponent within this time frame which didn’t seem available when Mayweather was supposedly headed to jail.”
As an old saying goes perception is reality. But the one that fits this situation even better is a quote by a French novelist, Gustave Flaubert:” There is no truth. There is only perception.” Would team Pacquiao agree to a fight on May 5th to change the perception?
“So the public relations pendulum, which has swung back and forth many times, now swings, I think, back in Mayweather’s favor,” continued Lampley:” Does it mean that Pacquiao and Arum are going to go belly up and make the fight? No, Arum has already made that clear. Pacquiao now needs time to recover from a cut in Marquez fight, which makes it one of the longest cut recoveries in recent years. But the bottom line is they are still jacking with each other. It’s still politics. There is still no chemical force that tells you they are moving towards making the fight.”
Fans are getting tired of talking about this ever illusive mega fight. If not Floyd Mayweather, who is next for Pacquiao?
“They’ve got all sorts of alternative motives to do things differently,” said Lampley. Floyd needs to have a fight on May 5th to satisfy the judge.
“For instance, Top Rank at this moment, needs economic incentive to keep Miguel Cotto in its ranks,” continued Lampley:” They need to give Cotto some big reward for new contract to stay with Top Rank. What’s the obvious reward they have for any body at that position? A rematch with Manny Pacquiao. What does that mean? Mayweather waits. That frankly is what I expect to happen.”
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