Farhood's Take on Pacquiao-Marquez Trilogy, Mayweather

Published Sun May 15, 2011, 9:30 AM

Sitting inside of the Sports book inside of Buffalo Bill's Casino in Primm, Nevada, Showtime analyst Steve Farhood was less than an hour removed from calling the wild Sharif Bogere-Raymundo Beltran fight but was still in the talking mood. Farhood is always one for a great interview because of his knowledge and objectivity towards the sport and I caught up with him after last night's card to get his take on his some recent happenings in the game.

We are a week removed from Manny Pacquiao's commanding yet uninspiring twelve-round decision over Shane Mosley last weekend at the MGM Grand, a fight that saw the world's best fighter up his ledger to 53-3-2 with 38 knockouts. The fight left so many of us wanting more and Farhood's frustration towards the contest was evident.

"It was very disappointing," said Farhood. "Shane Mosley has never been anything but the ultimate warrior and to be in such a passive fight after getting knocked down in the third round, was very disappointing. I don't blame Manny at all for the fact that it was a boring fight. When you are older, speed kills you, and Manny is as fast as anybody. So it's not surprising that Mosley had no answer."

Pacquiao is now line, tentatively, to face off with Juan Manuel Marquez this coming November in a bout that would make for the third encounter between the two. It's hard to muster excitement from fans and insiders alike for Pacquiao-Marquez III despite the heart-pounding drama produced in the first two showdowns and Farhood is in the same boat.

"Marquez, obviously, they had two great fights. But Marquez at 144, I don't know how effective he'll be. If you say that he can't fight Mayweather, then I guess Marquez is the next guy and maybe after that Tim Bradley or Zab Judah," Farhood stated, showing little enthusiasm.

Farhood was present at the Pacquiao-Mosley dud and pointed out that despite his alarming inactivity, Floyd Mayweather Jr.'s presence still weighed heavily inside of the building.

"It was interesting, inside of the MGM Grand after the fight, you hear people talking in the arena and the only name being mentioned by anybody was Mayweather," Farhood continued. "Even though he hasn't fought in over a year he's still the name in everybody's mind."

True enough, Mayweather and Pacquiao have been linked to one another the past few years as potential opponents in what would make for one of the biggest extravaganzas in boxing's history. But these days Mayweather has spent much of his free time living life lavishly while also racking up a steep amount of legal and financial troubles, making a Pacquiao less and less likely as time passes.

There have been several claiming that Floyd is afraid to test himself against Pacquiao because he has a sense of fear in matching up against he southpaw whirlwind from the Philippines. I asked Farhood what he felt was going on in Floyd's head.

"I've answered this question so many times," said Farhood. "At this level, the highest level, I don't think fighters fear other fighters. We know Floyd Mayweather is a great fighter. I don't think he fear Manny Pacquiao. I don't believe that. The ego at that level is so high. Some people say that he wants to protect his undefeated record but that's the same of saying 'I'm scared of the guy', so I don't buy that."

Cutting straight to the chase, Farhood gave his take on whether we would ever see the fight down the road.

"I wish I could give you an answer. It's a baffling thing, where, you know he could make $50 million dollars in one night. He's going to run out of money and than he will come back into the ring. Maybe he'll fight Victor Ortiz next, we'll see him. If he blows the Pacquiao fight, because of bad timing, than shame on him."