Boxing fans get punked by Floyd Mayweather

Boxing fans get punked by Floyd Mayweather by Ricardo Lois, LA Boxing Examiner January 11, 2012 Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I am not sure of where this English idiom originates from, but it is something boxing fans should surely hold dear and true as speculation of a Floyd Mayweather – Manny Pacquiao begin to boil to a frenzy. Yesterday, Floyd Mayweather Junior provided his Twitter followers the following message: “Manny Pacquiao I'm calling you out let's fight May 5th and give the world what they want to see.” And of course, the always flamboyant Mayweather had to throw in a personal, insultive barb in his next message: “My Jail Sentence was pushed back because the date was locked in. Step up Punk.” Mayweather has had a May 5th, 2011 fight date locked up for a few months now and recently worked it out with the State of Nevada to turn himself in on June 1st for a three month jail stretch due to a domestic violence charge. I want to see Mayweather – Pacquiao just as much as the next boxing fan, but just like everyone else, I have been waiting for nearly three years for the bout to materialize. Every few months the rumor mill begins to turn about the fight becoming a possibility, only to be left with Pacquiao and Mayweather fighting other opponents. Personally, I won’t be fooled by Mayweather’s public challenge and recent interest in the bout. Instead, I will listen to promoter Bob Arum (Pacquiao’s charge) and Richard Schaefer (handling Mayweather’s recent bouts). Arum and Schaefer regularly trade public insults through boxing media outlets and neither has made comments about Mayweather – Pacquiao being a reality for May 5th. Days before Mayweather’s comments, Arum had made it very clear he was looking at Pacquiao fighting someone within his Top Rank promotional stable, possibly Timothy Bradley, Miguel Cotto, Juan Manuel Marquez, or Lamont Peterson. As for Mayweather, before a sudden itch to fight Pacquiao, most press clippings seemed a fight with Robert Guerrero was more than likely for May 5th. As Flavor Flav once said, “done belive the hype,” and wait for an official press conference to be announced sometime in 2035. Pacquiao is not the punk, we are the punks for buying the hype.