After what felt like months of optimism regarding a potential Manny Pacquiao versus Floyd Mayweather Jr. showdown, reality is beginning to rear its ugly head.
As we noted on Opposing Views recently, the prospect of Pacquiao and Mayweather squaring off in early May essentially died when the pair realized they couldn’t come to a settlement on a fair purse split arrangement. Pacquiao, despite once agreeing to give his arch rival the lion’s share in the event of a superfight, demanded a 50-50 deal. Mayweather, for his part, had it in his head that he for some reason deserves more money than a guy everyone agrees is his equal.
The financial problems coupled with Mayweather’s looming June jail time (which would have rushed the proceedings) made the likelihood of a fight happening in early May very unlikely. The hope was, though, that what wouldn’t be set up for May of this year would eventually be arranged for November.
Well, as it turns out, that probably won’t happen either. As per Salvador Rodriguez of Boxing Scene:
The prospect of a welterweight mega-fight between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao is very unlikely for 2012, according to the recent run of events and the behind the scenes negotiations for several possible fights. Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum was shocked with last week's erroneous reports regarding a Mayweather-Pacquiao bout for the month of November in Qatar.
"We believe that November is a good date, but we do not expect it to be in Qatar. In fact, I was surprised by the statements when we saw them on the internet. The reality is, that there is nothing [to those reports]," Arum said.
With Pacquiao and Mayweather going their separate ways, several other fights are taking shape.
By themselves those statements don’t seem to be particularly hazardous to a future Pacquiao vs. Mayweather bout. After all, just because the match doesn’t happen in Qatar doesn’t mean it won’t happen at all. Right?
Not exactly. Over the last few days the rumor mill has been churning out a very believable 2012 boxing schedule that doesn’t feature Pacquiao vs. Mayweather at all. As we pointed out on Opposing Views over the weekend, Pacquiao will likely face off against either Miguel Cotto or Timothy Bradley come June of this year. At the same time, Pacquiao’s longtime rival Juan Manuel Marquez will likely do battle against Lamont Peterson at some point this summer. The winners of those two bouts are then expected to square off in November of this year.
Where does Mayweather fit into that schedule?
He doesn’t.
So much for 2012.
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