Floyd Mayweather Jr. swore on a stack of boxing gloves this past week that, yes, he really, really, REALLY wants to fight Manny Pacquiao.
It was news boxing fans everywhere have been waiting to hear. But, at the same time, it should also give them pause.
In reality, we’re no closer now to a Pacquiao-Mayweather showdown than we’ve ever been.
Mayweather’s words came during a promotional tour for his Sept. 17 bout against Victor Ortiz.
In New York and again in Los Angeles, a good portion of the questions directed at Mayweather centered on his plans to fight boxing’s No. 1 star, not Ortiz.
“Do I want to fight Pacquiao? Absolutely,” Mayweather said. “I want to fight the best they got out there, not just him, the best they got out there.
“And if he’s on the list as one of the best guys, then absolutely.”
But in the next breath, Mayweather uttered the words fight fans don’t want to hear.
“Pacquiao’s next,” Mayweather said, “as long as he agrees to the (Olympic-style drug) testing. Victor Ortiz has agreed to do it. So did (May 2010 foe) Shane Mosley.
“I’m also testing. It’ll show that boxing is clean.”
Mayweather in the past has suggested Pacquiao has taken performance enhancing drugs. It’s long been the sticking point between the two and the reason the two have shadow boxed around the richest fight in boxing history for a couple of years now.
Apparently, it still is. And it’s the reason fans shouldn’t get too worked up over anything Mayweather says, or the fact that he’s ending a 16-month layoff to fight Ortiz.
The Mayweather vs Ortiz fight should be a good one. Ortiz is coming off a career-defining victory over Andre Berto that made him the WBC welterweight champion.
Ortiz got off the canvas twice to win a 12-round unanimous decision.
Despite the layoff, Mayweather should beat Ortiz. Say what you will about Mayweather, the guy’s a freak of nature.
He possesses abilities that are unparalleled in the sport of boxing today. No one beats Father Time, but Mayweather has given no indication his skills have begun to fade.
That brings us back to the subject of Pacquiao, who has a date with Juan Manuel Marquez in November. Providing Pacquiao wins that – and he should – all of the attention once against will be focused on Pacquiao-Mayweather.
And the same old stumbling block – random, prefight blood tests.
“I never once said Manny Pacquaio is cheating,” Mayweather said last week. “I’m not taking anything away from him. All I said is we should take the tests. If you want to beat me, I want you to earn it. Just take the test.”
The problem has been the protocol for taking such a test. A test, by the way, that is not required by any state boxing commissions.
Mayweather wants the test conducted right up until the fight. Pacquaio has only agreed to blood and urine testing at certain times.
Until that issue can be resolved, there will be no megafight.
In other words, nothing has changed. We’re really back at square one, with seemingly nowhere to go.
Each fighter has painted himself into a corner on this. Someone is going to have to give in.
Mayweather’s ongoing legal issues may bring him to the negotiating table eventually. But even that’s not a sure bet.
At this point, it still might take a miracle to get the fight we all want to see.
Source: mysanantonio.com
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