The weekend that was supposed to resolve everything in regards to Manny Pacquiao versus Floyd Mayweather Jr., unsurprisingly enough, resolved nothing. There are just as many questions about a potential superfight heading into the week ahead as there were last week, the week before that and the 100+ weeks before that.
Here is where we stand:
All signs point to both Pacquiao and Mayweather wanting to square off. Because June is off the table as a result of the latter fighter’s legal predicament, May has to be the date when it happens. As we reported this weekend, Manny’s wife, Jinkee, came out a few days ago and publicly stated in an interview that her husband would fight his undefeated arch rival. Right around that time, a report came out from The Ring that Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto had the framework for a fight deal in place.
Since that report, Cotto and his people have come out and rebuked the notion that there is a deal in place to fight Pacquiao. In fact, they say that their isn’t even a deal close to being in place. As per Dan Rafael of ESPN:
Junior middleweight titlist Miguel Cotto has been one of the prominent potential opponents for Manny Pacquiao in the likely event that a deal between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. is not made.
However, Cotto denied a published report Saturday that he had agreed to a deal to face Pacquiao in a rematch.
"Do not pay attention to rumors," Cotto said in a statement. "I have not made any decision yet nor reached any deal regarding my next fight. At the appropriate time, I will directly be announcing my next fight. I am discussing and analyzing options with my team."
Attorney Gabriel Penagaricano, Cotto's longtime adviser, told ESPN.com: "It is absolutely false. There is no preliminary deal, no intermediate deal and no final deal for Miguel's next fight. I don't know from where that came from. I have no clue."
So there you go. According to Cotto and his people there is nothing in the works. Of course, that could very easily just be misinformation for the general public so as to give the impression that Pacquiao’s folks are attempting to work out a deal with Mayweather when they’re really not. With this bunch, nothing is off the table.
Not that Mayweather is any better. After spending two weeks raging and pleading for a fight against his Filipino arch rival, Mayweather has reportedly turned down a 50-50 purse split in the event that this fight takes place. Seriously? So Mayweather has come all this way, said all that he’s said – and in the end he’s not prepared to put his money where his mouth is? This is a guy who splurges cash like a bored trophy wife, but he can’t be bothered to sacrifice a little dough in the richest and most profitable boxing match ever for the sake of making it happen?
Give me a break.
Despite promises that this weekend would ultimately resolve everything and answer all our questions – we’re just as lost on this gloomy Monday as we have been for two years.
Stay tuned, this promises to be an interesting week.
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And you wonder why the popularity of boxing has been decreasing. Imagine if the New England Patriots and New York Giants could somehow avoid each other and both call themselves champion..think that would hurt football's popularity?