For years now, the two names that have dominated boxing--Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao--have flirted with a blockbuster title fight to end all blockbuster title fights. We’ve watched them dance back-and-forth in the media, negotiate through back channels, haggle over drug testing, and toss aside the inferior challengers they’ve met in between. But will they ever actually fight?
A Mayweather-Pacquiao Fight ‘Nearly Finalized,’ According To Golden Boy CEO Oscar De La Hoya
It’s still up in the air, but Oscar De La Hoya, the promoter charged with making the fight happen, recently told Spanish television network Univision that the two sides are getting close. Courtesy of The Boxing Truth:
“Up until now, it’s been a very difficult negotiation process for various reasons but right now we’re very close. We’re very close in finalizing the contracts that were once very complicated. The two fighters now realize that this fight must be made.”
“...Right now we are very, very close in finalizing the contracts. I can’t talk right now in detail about the negotiations but I will say that we are very close.”
So far, the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight has been like a mirage for boxing fans. Even when it seemed like a sure thing, and venues like the Staples Center and Cowboys Stadium were bidding upwards of $30 million for the right to host it... It still seemed too good to be true.
When it didn’t happen, you’d have thought there’d never be a boxing match again.
But contrary to some of the myths you hear from cynics, the sport’s not really on “life support.” People that love boxing will love it forever, and there’s still nothing like a blockbuster fight.
With or without Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, there will always be more title fights that titillate boxing obsessives, and send sports fans scurrying to Vegas for a weekend of excess. Boxing’s still great, and it’ll always be great; the great misconception that accompanies any Mayweather-Pacquiao discussion is that this fight could somehow “save” boxing.
First off, it couldn’t. Second, boxing doesn’t really need to be “saved,” anyway.
But good LORD. Wouldn’t it be awesome? Mayweather and Pacquiao, two modern marvels of speed and technique, both at the apex of the sport, with nobody else even close.
Boxing doesn’t “need” this fight, but anyone that loves the sport has wanted it for a long, long time. Now, once again, we’re getting closer. “Nearly finalized,” in fact. Could the mirage become reality?
I’ll believe it when I see it, but De La Hoya says they’re close. Let’s hope he’s right.
(image via)
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