Floyd Mayweather, Jr. didn’t become the highest-paid American athlete in 2013 if he wasn’t an excellent salesman. He might be one of, if not the best in that regard.
Combine that with a brash and arrogant personality with exceptional boxing skills and you have the ultimate villain. He is the man fans would love to hate. Mayweather plays the “heel” role to perfection and therein lies the secret to his winning: The crowd patronizes him, not because of his unassailable but not fan-friendly style, but simply because they want to see him lose.
To Mayweather’s credit, some of the best lightweight fighters (José Luis Castillo, Diego Corrales, Zab Judah) in the era have tried to put a stink on his record, but to no avail. It’s far from a secret to the casual fan that for the better part of two decades, no one did, and perhaps no one ever will.
Manny Pacquiao’s rise in the mid-2000s became a beacon of hope for Mayweather’s detractors.
There’s this nice guy from the Philippines with a literal rags-to-riches history, beating people left and right on his way to being considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world for over 300 weeks.
At last, now there is someone the fans would see as a hero, the anti-Mayweather, if you will.
All the talk about Pacquiao defeating Mayweather isn’t just wishful thinking. The Filipino machine has lightning-quick hands with real power behind them and most purists believe Pacman’s fast-paced, all-pressing style could pose problems for the defensive-minded wizard. Even the great Sugar Ray Leonard called him a “Tasmanian devil” for the way he introduces himself and throws punches in bunches.
By contrast, Money’s game isn’t so much about quick boxing as it is about not getting hit by any of the projectiles they call punching. But that only made the potential encounter a hundred times more exciting. The styles make the fights, they say.
It’s a matchup many thought was made in heaven. Or maybe not.
Years earlier, reports had said that at least twice, the fight nearly broke through only to fall at the last minute. Drug tests that Pacquiao wants no part of then, the $40 million guaranteed money he turned down, Bob Arum, and so on.
A lot has happened since then and Pacquiao, from being on top of the boxing world, plummeted to No. 5 on most lists and Mayweather has firmly planted himself in that No. 1 spot.
Mayweather basked in the glory of having his fight against Saúl ‘Canelo’ Álvarez heralded as the highest-grossing PPV fight of all time (2.2 million buys) and reportedly generated $150 million. Pacquiao, on the other hand, won convincingly against Brandon Rios, but the PPV numbers could only muster an anemic 550,000 buys, tops.
Now, that would just mean that Pacquiao has lost much, if not all, of his influence in talks of a possible matchup and Mayweather, the teacher that he is, isn’t going to stop reminding Pacquiao of the latter’s now inferior status.
Recently, on a visit to Johannesburg, South Africa, Mayweather had a few choice words for the struggling congressman, even pointing to Pacquiao’s two previous losses and recent fiscal woes.
“I offered Manny Pacquiao the fight earlier,” Mayweather said. “We didn’t agree on the terms. Years later we came back and I’m trying to make the fight happen again. I’m offering him $40 million. He said he wanted 50-50. So we didn’t make the fight happen.” .
“All of a sudden, he loses to Timothy Bradley, he loses to Marquez… now he’s in fiscal trouble. So two losses and fiscal trouble later, now all of a sudden he wants to say, ‘You know what? ‘I’d do anything to make the fight happen.” ‘ when he’s really saying, ‘Floyd, can you help me solve my tax problems, get me out of debt?'”
Pacquiao struck back by summoning his inner villain, appealing to Mayweather’s masculinity in a phone interview with a Philippine newspaper.
“I’m not desperate to fight him just for money or material things. It’s not me looking for this fight, it’s boxing fans all over the world. I’m ready to submit to any kind of strict.” drug test.”
“Most of all, I challenge you to include in our fight contract that none of us receive anything from this fight. We will donate all guaranteed prize money from the fight, if any, gate receipts, pay-for-pay.” -view and sponsorships- to charities around the world.
In addition to proposing a charity fight, Pacquiao added:
“Floyd, if you’re a real man, fight me. Let’s do it for the love of boxing and for the fans. Let’s not do it for the money. Let’s make boxing fans happy.”
Of course, Mayweather’s accusations that Pacquiao is broke are unfounded and almost ridiculous. Estimates have Pacquiao’s total earnings at over $300 million and he is consistently on Forbes magazine’s list of the highest paid athletes year after year.
Mayweather may have been at the top of that list for a couple of years, but Pacquiao is not a pushover. It’s also interesting to note that “Money” got all of his money exclusively from his fights and no endorsements of any kind.
Pacquiao, on the other hand, has a host of local and international endorsements, including Nike, Hennessy, San Miguel Corp., among others. The numbers may not match Mayweather’s totals, but you get what I mean. Even with Pacquiao’s problems with the BIR and the IRS, he would still have enough money to last him and his family for a lifetime.
But did Pacquiao do more harm than good by challenging Mayweather like that? Probably, but Mayweather isn’t the type to run out of jokes. He may be silent for now, but he expects an answer in the next few weeks.
Contrary to what some fans would suggest, Mayweather isn’t actually “scared of chickens” scared to fight the eight-division world champion. But the thing is, he’s so concerned with nothing more than maintaining his unbeaten record and he recognized that Pacquiao is as legitimate a threat as there ever will be.
What will happen if they ever turn their backs on him? And now if they take away that cloak of invincibility that she treasured for so long? Will you have endorsements to fall back on or the face to face the people and the media?
Floyd is a salesman, remember, and may be a classier businessman than a fighter.
I am one of the millions who wanted to see a clash between two of the best of our generation. No matter the registrations, gate attendance and PPV purchases; never mind the Ws and Ls or the legacies, just watching Mayweather test his skills against Pacquiao and vice versa is enough to drive any fan crazy.
I for one believe Mayweather will outlive Pacquiao if he ever happens. I have always favored defense over offense in any sport and this time will be no different. But there are always what-ifs and breaks, especially at big events, and that’s what makes sports exciting.
But sadly, everyone has their own reasons and agendas for not making this fight happen. Manny had his when he was on top and Floyd Jr. always has it despite his own limits, if there ever were.
From the looks of it, Manny Pacquiao now doesn’t care if he wins or loses; he has lost before and if he goes down once more, no one will be surprised. But I can’t say the same for Floyd Mayweather, Jr.
Perhaps he has pondered these things and decided it would be too risky to fight a daredevil like Pacquiao. With that being said, let’s all rest until the real talks start and don’t hold your hopes up on a Mayweather vs Pacquiao.
But then again, I would love to be wrong this time.
