Mayweather's master plan to elude Pacquiao forever
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January 24, 2015 7:34 PM MST
Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images
No one is invincible. Nobody knows this better than
Floyd Mayweather Jr., which is why he has stayed away from
Manny Pacquiao all these years. Over the past month we've been flooded by numerous reports from reliable sources that the one fight the entire
boxing universe wants to see is finally going to happen. Everyone's been talking but Floyd, until recently, that is.
Mayweather recently broke his silence and admitted that negotiations have been ongoing between him and
Pacquiao, but unlike everything else we've been hearing, Floyd said that the fight isn't close to being made. Floyd wants the public to believe that everyone has been lying the whole time. Doubtful. "Mistaken" may be more fitting. Everyone who's been around the negotiating table has been under the notion that Mayweather really wants to fight Pacquiao. They are all wrong.
Mayweather blames Arum for being the roadblock. What does that mean exactly? Did Arum demand a 90-10 split in favor of Pacquiao? Is Arum asking for lion's share of the pay-per-view revenues? Of course Floyd can't name specifics because the facts are against him. It is in his best interest to keep things as vague as possible and let this whole thing turn into a game of he said, she said. We're all just supposed to believe that Arum is to blame. The way things are going it seems like we're not too far from square one, in which case Manny and Floyd will go their separate ways to find another dance partner.
Nobody is unbeatable. Not Pacquiao, not Mayweather. The difference between the two is that Pacquiao doesn't avoid his toughest challenges. His four fights Marquez are evidence for this. Furthermore, Pacquiao's last three opponents prove that he does not avoid fighting any particular style while Floyd only chooses slow, plodding opponents. While Rios was a one-dimensional slugger, Bradley was tough, athletic, quick and feisty. Chris Algieri was slick, defensive and lanky.
With only two fights remaining in his contract, Mayweather will handpick slow and short opponents. There's already talk about a rematch with Cotto, which seems more and more likely. Floyd can handle shorter guys who are slow. Cotto is perfect.
Pacquiao, on the other hand, will seek the most dangerous of foes and is likely to lose in spectacular fashion sooner or later, which is precisely what Floyd is hoping for and depending on to keep his dignity and legacy somewhat legit. After all, if Pacquiao ends up losing to a lesser foe than Mayweather, that surely proves that Mayweather is vastly superior and truly never had to fight Pacquiao. At least that is what Mayweather's mindless minions the world over would be rabidly typing on their keyboards. Floyd is perfectly content with that.
