The superfight between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather in Las Vegas on May 2 took five years to seal. And it almost didn’t happen. As in most epics, ironing out the kinks to put the production to bed is a long, tedious process.
Last year, Matthew Bazell came out with a book entitled “The Greatest Fights That Never Were – How Greed, Corruption and Racism Stopped Boxing’s Best Match-Ups.” At the time the book was published, the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight was still up in the air so the last chapter was devoted to it.
“Where there’s a will, there’s a way and boxing is a sport where the will revolves solely around generating the most money,” wrote Bazell. “Things can change very quickly and if this fight happens, then we will have witnessed surprising co-operation between promoters and TV companies for the good of the sport. Or Manny Pacquiao just switched sides and joined Team Mayweather! In the point of view of some, it’s too late anyway. Mayweather-Pacquiao should have happened five years ago and therefore, will always qualify as a great fight that never was.”
For five years, Mayweather avoided fighting Pacquiao, raising speculation that he was afraid to risk a stain in his pristine record, now at 47-0. He’s just three wins shy of eclipsing the late heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano’s record of 49-0 when the Brockton Blockbuster retired in 1955. Mayweather threw a lot of excuses not to face Pacquiao – he demanded random drug testing, Bob Arum out of the equation, full control of the MGM Grand Garden Arena, majority of the purse split, choice of gloves and many others.
On Pacquiao’s part, there was only one non-negotiable issue. Arum couldn’t be bumped off. Say what you will about the 83-year-old Arum but you’ve got to admit Pacquiao wouldn’t have gone as far as he has without the Harvard lawyer. So in the end, the final fight contract had the signatures of Mayweather, Pacquiao and Arum. Everything else that Mayweather asked for, he got.
Not too many know that Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach had a hand in setting up a meeting between Arum and CBS CEO Leslie Moonves. This was a major step in sealing the deal as Arum and Pacquiao are aligned with HBO while Mayweather has two bouts left in his six-fight CBS Showtime contract.
“Moonves was trying to get the fight together with Bob and I said, ‘No, you’ve got to get Bob involved,’” related Roach quoted by former Boxing News editor Tris Dixon. “He called Bob ‘the devil’ but you know what, I put them together, we had a meeting at Bob’s house. It was hard to get them together but just for that fight, they did. I was at the meeting. They walked out of the meeting with their arms around each other.”
Bazell said the superfight had to happen. “It was just too big for either camp to let disagreements get in the way of what would easily be the highest grossing fight ever,” he said. “One that for the first time in years would get boxing talked about in the mainstream media and warrant more than just the standard tiny column in the far corner of the inner sports pages, a match so big that you don’t make a decision to pay attention, one where even the non-boxing fan gets curious and takes notice because of the hype.”
Former heavyweight champions Larry Holmes and Mike Tyson were quoted by Bazell as predicting different outcomes of the fight. Holmes picked Mayweather to win. Tyson said Pacquiao will come out on top. “I’m watching Floyd fight this guy, I’m watching Pacquiao fight this same guy and I see Pacquiao knocking these guys out,” said Tyson. “That doesn’t mean anything because Floyd is extraordinary in his defensive skills but Pacquiao is the kind of fighting I like to see.”
Pacquiao and Mayweather have fought five common opponents – Juan Manuel Marquez, Ricky Hatton, Sugar Shane Mosley, Oscar de la Hoya and Miguel Cotto. Pacquiao battled Marquez in four classics, winning twice, losing once and drawing once. Mayweather beat Marquez once. Pacquiao sent Marquez to the canvas for five total knockdowns and Mayweather floored him once. Hatton was poleaxed by Pacquiao in two and stopped by Mayweather in 10. Mosley lost to both fighters on points but was dropped by Pacquiao once and never took a count against Mayweather. De la Hoya lost to Mayweather by a split decision and the Golden Boy quit on his stool at the end of eight rounds with Pacquiao. Cotto was halted by Pacquiao in the 12th round and went the distance with Mayweather.
Curiously, Bazell said when the bell finally rings to start the fight, the American fans won’t necessarilyy go for Mayweather. “Normally, if an American fights a foreigner in the US, then home support would be expected but for this fight, there would be a fascinating split in the American crowd,” he said. “The contrast in personalities of Mayweather-Pacquiao had clear transparency. If Mayweather’s unlikeable image is a clever ploy to get people to pay to see him lose, then it’s worth a treat.
“While Manny built up an image of helping the poor in the Philippines, Floyd got filmed burning $100 bills in a nightclub. In his day, Muhammad Ali earned more than anyone but there’s no footage of him boasting about his wealth. In contrast, Ali built up an image of fighting for the little guy and the PacMan follows the same lead. When interviewed, Pacquiao always comes across well and seems genuinely polite and respectful.”