Manny Pacquiao v Floyd Mayweather: Boxings Last Super Fight?

Ok here is another form www.maineventboxing.wordpress.com Enjoy

Will it, won’t it. We will let other’s ask those questions?

Here is another, is Floyd Mayweather Vs Manny Pacquiao the last super fight that can be made in boxing?

Boxing was once seen as sporting royalty, sometimes controversial, and at others, downright tragic, but always was it relevent. As were the super fights.

Louis v Schmelling transcended the sport, Ali filled The Garden, Yankee Stadium and engulfed the continent of Africa. When Hagler met Leonard in 1987 we were glitzed and glamoured by the spectacle.

Then Tyson came with the box office. and then . . .

As the twentieth century eeked out to a close boxing did something that was not familiar to our eyes, it stumbled.

Alphabelts, match ups left on the table, the rise other violent and non violent sports and the million cable networks able to shine a light on them all. The field has gotten wider, and to a degree, boxing has been swallowed up in it.

But we still have two superstars, to speak of.

Every fight fan on the planet wants this match up made, and in time (and despite Bob Arum’s best efforts) it will be made. But when it does, and when the dust settles on two outstanding careers, will we ever see another super fight?

As recently as this week, Bernard Hopkins made comments on the lack of African-Americans walking into Philly gyms, and if this is to be seen as representative of gyms around the country, then boxing may have to make due as a middle ground sport.

Long gone are the days when we could call just one man per division ‘The Champ’

More and more we are reduced to debating which active fighters are ducking who, rather than seeing them square off and silence the argument.

Promoters take their piece as though they’re stealing valuables from a sinking ship and so on and so on.

Fast forward twenty years, no, make that ten. The MMA are filling 40,000 seater stadiums with their UFC events, boxing is going the other way.

So, with all of these factors considered, let us ask,

is 2012 the year the super fight has its obituary written?

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I was thinking about this recently. Which boxer will transcend the sport. Unfortunately I cant see one. If one does come along, it has to be a heavyweight. Its the marquee division and the one that should spark most interest.

Unfortunately that boxer has to be American as they pay the bills.

I fear we need someone of Ali/Tyson brilliance/controversy to pull it out of the mire.

Even if someone like that did come along, the various governing bodies, promoters, PPV channels etc would still stifle the life out of it.

Boxing would do well to learn a few lessons from how UFC appproach things.

There is no denying the proliferation of governing bodies is a blight on the sport, Bob Mee does a fascinating but depressing piece on it in the weeks Boxing News and whilst it is a cliche you genuinely could not make it up.

However beyond the governing bodies the whole structure of the sport is wrong, Manny and Floyd will both earn $20m + whoever they fight next, where is the inducement to give the fans the fight they want. Also when they earn like that where is the need to fight with anything approaching regualrity.

People say there are no stars but if you take someone like Floyd he could be, is supremely gifted in a once in a generation kind of way and whether you think he is a complete tool or hilarious he has an engaging personality but he has a fight, makes the game look ridiculously easy and has you salivating at his performance and then disappears for 12 months or more, there is no momentum, people move on and get on with their lives, can't blame him, financially it makes sense but how can people expect someone who fights once every year to grab and more importantly hold your attention.

Just heard that Team Paq (Arum) have rejected May 5th.

I can't post the link as I'm a new member but I don't know if it's already been done here:

From the Telegraph

Floyd Mayweather Jnr contacts Manny Pacquiao personally to discuss possible megafight
Floyd Mayweather has spoken to Filipino icon Manny Pacquiao by telephone to discuss a possible fight next May, advisers to each fighter confirmed to several media outlets on Thursday.

Mayweather adviser Leonard Ellerbe confirmed the call to ESPN while Pacquiao promoter Bob Arum did the same to BoxingScene.com and Pacquiao himself talked with ABS-CBN in the Philippines about the short conversation.

The Filipino report quoted Pacquiao as saying there would be no problem if Mayweather would agree to a 50-50 split of income from what is expected to be the richest fight in boxing history - if it ever comes off.

Unbeaten US star Mayweather and Pacquiao, regarded as the world's top pound-for-pound fighters, nearly made a deal for a fight once before but the American's insistence on unique anti-doping blood tests helped kill the talks.

This time, Mayweather has a May 5 date booked at a Las Vegas arena while Pacquiao's promoter wants a late May date to assemble a huge outdoor arena so for tickets can be sold to boost profits as much as $50 million.

"Floyd wants to fight Manny Pacquiao on May 5 and he went as far as to reach out to Manny Pacquiao personally," Ellerbe said.

Ellerbe told ESPN that Mayweather called from Las Vegas to the Philippines after earlier this month calling out southpaw Pacquiao on Twitter, taunting "Step Up, Punk" to the world welterweight champion.

Mayweather has spoken with Pacquiao adviser Michael Koncz several times in recent weeks, according to all reports.

Pacquiao, 54-3 with two drawn and 32 knockouts, has won his past 15 fights over a span of nearly seven years while Mayweather, 42-0 with 26 knockouts, must serve a 90-day jail sentence starting June 1 after a domestic violence conviction.

Arum said that the issue of who Pacquiao would next fight would be resolved this coming week. Arum presented four other possible foes.

Welcome Group Cpt.

Truth is guys, although we can never predict these things with any certainty, in the face of everything boxing has going against it, i finde it increasingly difficult to see another super fight down the road. One which sparks armchair fans support PPV buys celebs at the ringside etcetc. Alvarez v ??

and Alvarez may lack the talent to get there

Maybe from a general public point of view it might appear so but there are some match ups that could be made that would still IMO would fit in to that catergory due to the competitveness (on paper) of the fighters.

On the thread about Perfect Card 2012, there are a lot of fights that would generate enough interest from athe hard core fans but with the right promotion would gain public interest

I think we need more mexican superstars - they still generally have a need to beat each other to a pulp. Except Chavez Jr of course but he is an exception rather than the rule.