Floyd vs Manny: Soap Opera or Super Fight???

MAYWEATHER-PACQUIAO: SOAP OPERA OR SUPER FIGHT? By Stephen Edwards Has anyone ever dated anybody they were super excited about seeing? The prospects of being with this person just made you bubble with anticipation. Hours upon hours are spent chatting it up on the phone, increasing your aniticipation, only for this person to stand you up. When what was alleged to be an isolated incident becomes a repeat performance, what do you do? No matter how attracted you are to this person, they simply do not care about you enough. You have to say the heck with him or her, and you don’t chase them , you replace them. This is how I feel about a Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight. Someone needs to be held accountable for this mess and, I’m already replacing this fight in my mind. It has been well documented that Manny Pacquiao comes from an uneducated, poverty stricken back ground. I personally have given him a pass with certain things because of this. Manny gets that pass from me no longer. I once heard a hip hop artist who started his own label say, “ I do everything for my company, because I got tired of blaming people when something went wrong. Now that I do everything , I can only blame myself if something goes wrong.” Well in my opinion Manny has too many chefs in his kitchen. Too many people that lack any boxing acumen speak for him and make decisions for him. At this stage in his career Manny should listen to one man, with the same attentiveness he gives Freddie Roach's corner instructions, HIMSELF. All these advisors, messengers, representatives and bucket holders are getting ridiculous. Manny needs to man up and cut the fat. If Manny were firmer on who could speak for him and who could not, this situation would have been smoother, at least on his side. Bob Arum has not been helpful in this situation at all. Arum states that a gag order is in effect, then in his next sentence he talks about future opponents and deadlines. Arum keeps mentioning than names of his other fighters as Manny’s next opponent. I know promoters want to make money but dam! Manny almost killed Cotto in November and not only does Margarito not deserve the opportunity, he and his trainer's attempted assault on Shane Mosley, have prevented him from acquiring a license to fight in the States. If Arum can pay Joshua Clottey $1M+ to fight Manny he can pay Berto, Bradley, Alexander or Williams $3-4M. No one can tell me anything different. Giving Floyd a deadline in the middle of July of a fight that is proposed for November 13th, is Bob Arum antagonzing Floyd and is simply ridiculous. Boxing is chess. Arum already knows Floyd’s next move. He knew Floyd would not have an answer by that BS deadline. Floyd is an egomaniac, who, his own admission, does not like taking orders from white people. Remember his slave contract comments years ago? I really respect Arum as an promoter, but he has not helped this situation at all. (Note: Arum was cut deep by Mayweather when Al Haymon contractually outlawyered him and Mayweather became a free agent by giving Arum $750,000) Of course this would be the reason Arum would negotiate the fight with Al Haymon through Ross Greenburg. Maybe I'm still too new at this, but a network head, a promoter and an a advisor? Perhaps this is the norm, but I would expect the network to negotiate directly with the promoters, not an advisor. Mayweather Promotions now claims that NO negotiations ever took place, someone is lying big time. Where is Ross Greenburg when we need him? It’s funny now that Floyd has put more $40M in his pocket since his return last September he is not in a rush to fight. Floyd he cares about money, himself and his undefeated record. Many colleagues of mine and fans alike have challenged me on this one sticking point. Anybody who can continue to uphold Floyd's position is simply brainwashed. Floyd can say whatever he wants, but it is clear to me that Manny wants to fight him, more than he wants to fight Manny. Manny is the one who is ready to fight November 13th. Floyd is on vacation. He claims he just fought 60 days ago and he is resting. When Floyd first became champion he beat Genaro Hernandez in October of 1998 and then defended his title against Angel Manfredy in December of 1998. He was hungry back then and more importantly he was not rich yet. Floyd needs to realize that we write is paychecks. Yes WE the fans and paying public. We pay for it with our HBO monthly subscriptions, our PPV purchases and the money we spend in Vegas when we go see his fights. He is slapping us in our face. This is the second time in his career when he faces a serious PRIME challenge and he wants to become inactive. How much freaking time does a fighter need to take off following a two year vacation? This fight was supposed to be an easy close right. Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer was quoted as saying, "we'd have to be morons" not to close this deal. ANd that was in 2009. If our sport had more BOXING guys not just business guys in positions of prominence, things like this would not happen. $30 million dollar guarantees for both fighters. Random blood and urine testing up to 5 days before the fight and immediately after the fight. 147lbs maximum weight. One million dollar/lb penalty for anything over. 8 ounce gloves of each fighters choice and both fighters share in the rights to the fight. Floyd’s name is 1st on the promotion but Manny can walk out last. Let Floyd take 52% of the PPV upside because he has done the bigger numbers in the past. And if they feel like including a rematch clause, both boxers would earn an unprecedented nine figures in two fights. How freaking easy was that? This fight has not been made because both sides don’t want to make it bad enough. When they do, we'll hear an announcement. In the middle of the summer, the last thing boxing fans need is more hot air. Nice Article written by Stephen Edwards!