Chicken of same feather

Two fights that every boxing fan wants to see are Manny Pacquiao versus Floyd Mayweather Jr. to determine who is the world’s No. 1 pound-for-pound champion and the rematch between Nonito Donaire Jr. and Vic Darchinyan.

Unfortunately, Mayweather and Darchinyan aren’t cooperating to make the showdowns happen. They seem to be scared stiff of facing the Filipino ring superstars, reciting a litany of changing demands to repeatedly throw a monkey wrench into the negotiations.

Mayweather will never admit it but the speculation is he wiggled out of a March appointment with Pacquiao, using the drug bogey as an excuse, because Pretty Boy Floyd – with due disrespect to the late gangster – wasn’t ready to cross swords. He came out of a 21-month retirement to maul a blown-up Juan Manuel Marquez last September and couldn’t even knock out the Mexican who tipped the scales four pounds less at the weigh-in.

Early this month, Mayweather was back in the ring, this time to decision a faded 38-year-old Sugar Shane Mosley. Mayweather scored a convincing decision although in the second round, he was staggered and clinched for dear life to stay on his feet.

The Mayweather-Mosley pulled in 1.4 million pay-per-view buys compared to “only” 700,000 for Pacquiao’s fight against Joshua Clottey in Dallas last March. It’s unfair to conclude that Mayweather is a bigger draw than Pacquiao on the basis of their latest pay-per-view hits. Mayweather took on a future Hall of Famer in Mosley who has beaten Oscar de la Hoya twice while Pacquiao faced an unheralded Ghanaian. Surely, if you’re a fight fan, you’d rather watch a fight between two future Hall of Famers than a fight between a future Hall of Famer and a wannabe.

Some ring experts reinstated Mayweather as the world’s No. 1 pound-for-pound champion after his lopsided win over Mosley. But what the so-called experts failed to notice was Mosley made Mayweather look good by standing in front of him and giving his best impression of a human punching bag. How can Mayweather be impressive beating up a smaller man and an aging man?

Besides, Golden Boy stood to earn a lot more from a win by Mayweather rather than Mosley. It’s no secret that Golden Boy promotes the careers of both fighters. At 38, Mosley has a considerably less upside than Mayweather.

Because Pacquiao wouldn’t agree to blood testing 14 days before the “dream” match, Mayweather broke off talks for a March duel. Pacquiao said he would agree to a blood extraction to determine drug use only 24 days before.

It must be pointed out that no supervising boxing commission anywhere in the world requires Olympic-style blood analysis to show drug use. Mayweather brought it up as a condition because of his supposed suspicion that Pacquiao takes performance enhancing drugs to retain his speed and power while moving up from one weight class to another. What gives Mayweather the right to set conditions which aren’t required by US boxing authorities?

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When Pacquiao turned pro in 1995, he weighed 106 pounds. Against Clottey, he scaled 145 3/4 for the welterweight title fight. Pacquiao has now won world titles in seven weight divisions – the only man to achieve the feat in history – from flyweight (112 pounds) to welterweight (147).

Mayweather weighed 106 pounds as an amateur fighter in 1993, turned pro at 131 three years later and has won world titles in five weight divisions from superfeatherweight (130) to superwelterweight (154). Pacquiao never raised the possibility of Mayweather taking performance-enhancing drugs even as Pretty Boy Floyd, too, has moved up in weight like the Filipino. Curiously, Pacquiao’s family has never been linked to anything related to drugs while Mayweather’s father Floyd Sr. was once imprisoned for drug pushing.

Over a week ago, Pacquiao said he wouldn’t mind undergoing a blood extraction 14 days before a fight, just to accommodate Mayweather. But wait. Now, Mayweather is changing his tune. His latest demand is blood testing even on the day of the fight. That only indicates one thing – Mayweather is imposing impossible conditions because he doesn’t want to get in the same ring as Pacquiao.

The Filipino said he doesn’t mind a blood extraction right after the fight – even in the ring if Mayweather wants. If the point is to determine whether or not Pacquiao uses drugs, surely a post-fight extraction will do. And if Pacquiao tests positive, I’m sure he’ll be willing to be banned for life – that’s how sure he is that he’s not into drugs.

But drug testing isn’t the only issue that’s dousing cold water on plans to stage the fight. There’s also the matter of revenue sharing. Since both are crowd drawers, it’s only fair to do a 50-50 split. But Mayweather is insisting on a bigger share of the pie, citing the pay-per-view figures in the Mosley bout. Of course, Pretty Boy Floyd is being unreasonable and he’s making this demand, knowing Pacquiao will never back down.