By Norm Frauenheim
Only boxing is killing boxing. It’s an old line, yet
relevant as ever this week with news of talk about a Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao rematch.
It’s been a decade since the first one, which has been hard to forget for all the wrong reasons. It was a dud, memorable only for all the money that was made. Pacquiao got rich. Mayweather got richer. Everybody else got robbed.
Many in a record pay-per-view audience of 4.6 million for the May 2015 fight grumbled at what they paid for and walked away, never to pay again.
For ten long years, the business has worked through futility and frustration, attempting to bring back old fans while trying to create a few new ones. The jury is out. So are the fans.
Yet, younger faces and new money, Saudi money, are creating newfound possibilities.
The business is also coming off a notable triumph in Terence Crawford’s scorecard upset of Canelo Alvarez in mid-September in front of a crowd of more than 70,000 at Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium and a reported audience of more than 42 million on Netflix.
The numbers add up to a reason for cautious optimism, emphasis on the caution. Crawford’s masterful performance reminded an eroding and increasingly exasperated fan base of why boxing was once called The Sweet Science.
It still can be.
But Mayweather-Pacquiao 2 might make a returning crowd wary of getting fooled all over again. Caveat emptor is attached to any prizefighting venture, of course. But Mayweather-Pacquiao almost stands alone for what went wrong and what not to do all over again.
It’s no surprise that Pacquiao and Mayweather would want to, of course. Another chance at even a fraction of the money earned a decade ago is motivation enough to try once more. Pacquiao confirmed there have been negotiations.
“Right now, we have a lot of negotiations about my next fight; there’s a possible rematch with Floyd Mayweather,” Pacquiao said Wednesday during a news conference in Manila. “…”I’d love to have another fight, a rematch with Floyd Mayweather.”
Of course, he would.
However, there was no immediate confirmation from Mayweather, who reportedly has an agreement for an exhibition with Mike Tyson, also next year.
Pacquiao, however, made it sound as if a rematch — perhaps next spring — would be a genuine bout, one for the books.
“A real fight,” he said.
That, of course, would be a risk to Mayweather’s unbeaten, 50-0 record, a cornerstone to his claim on being the best ever. Unbeaten might be an issue, a legacy Mayweather does not want to jeopardize
Pacquiao is 46 and coming off an entertaining draw with Mario Barrios in a July comeback. Against Barrios, he proved he can still fight. But for how much longer? The former Filipino Senator will be 47 in December.
Meanwhile, Mayweather, who has been on the exhibition tour for years, is 48. He’ll be 49 in late February.
Even a decade ago, both were late in their primes, yet fought with the hesitance of older men. Mayweather won a decision. After the scores were announced and the boos subsided, Pacquiao said he fought with a shoulder injury.
Even then, the fight was said to be a couple of years past its due date. Ten years later, it’s just ancient history. It’s time to move on, both for them and a game fighting to separate itself from their past.
David Benavidez on the move
David Benavidez, a Phoenix-born fighter now living in Miami, has already moved his training camp to the Middle East for his looming light-heavyweight title fight against 175-pound veteran Anthony Yarde in Riyadh Nov. 22.
With the move, he hopes to adjust to new surroundings and time zone. Benavidez will be fighting in Saudi Arabia for the first time. All of his fights have been in the U.S. and Mexico.
