Mayweather vs Pacquiao - MGM GRAND 05/05/2012 or Never ?

[Atticus_Finch]

I can't see any thread on this and thought that the possibility of the biggest fight of the 21st Century, featuring the sport's top two pound for pound fighters, deserved a thread of its own.

The hope of the fight being made received new hope yesterday when Mayweather called Pacquiao out on twitter.

Call me cynical but i think there is a good reason behind this and wouldn't go booking flights and accomodation for Vegas just yet.

Mayweather had been due to start his 87 day sentence last Friday but his lawyer successfully argued that this be postponed until the 1st of June so that he could fulfil a contractual obligation for a fight at the MGM Grand which they argued would inject a much needed 100m into the economy.

Mayweather has been granted this postponement on the basis that he has a fight but ... no concrete fight is lined up - so by Mayweather calling out Pacquiao over Twitter should he so happen be back before a judge trying to get his June the 1st date postponed he can turn around and say look i tried I called out Pacquiao over twitter.  Just like a drug addict would point to a few days rehab attendance to indicate their intention to go clean.

Also, I would add there would be no negative consequences for Mayweather if he didn't fulfil a contractual obligation to the MGM - in this day and age when Vegas is losing out on major fights to the likes of the Dallas Cowboy Stadium then as one of Boxing's major stars Mayweather is a very important lad to the MGM and Vegas.

The two promoters (Arum and Schaefer) have a lot of differences and that's the biggest stumbling block to a fight happening this year in my opinion.  I see Arum has already knocked back the idea of a May date and is talking about November being more suitable.

But i think a fight has to be made at some date in the future, I just hope it is sooner rather than later, as I don't want to see the fight when both fighters are long past their prime.  There are big motivating factors for each fighter involved.  For "Money" Mayweather the $ signs would surely be too much to say no and for Pacquiao if he wants to cement his legacy and erase doubts over his greatness after his recent performance against Marquez.

The build up to the fight (Jailbird vs congressman) and the fight itself have all the ingredients to justify its super-fight status and could potentially single handedly put boxing back on the map as the major sport it once was.  In terms of viewing figures it now falls behind American Football, Baseball, Basketball and UFC in America.

For me if the fight materialises this year then Mayweather wins.  The reasons why i think this probably merits a post in itself.

I'd do anything to make the trip to this fight - I just hope it doesn't happen in June !  Poland vs Vegas would be a difficult choice but there would be only one winner !

I would be interested to hear people's thoughts on a) the chances of the fight materialising and if so when ?  b) who would emerge as victorious ?

[omagh_gael]

Larry Reilly would knock the sh1t out of both...at the same time.

[Link]

Larry Reilly would knock the sh1t out of both...at the same time.

As would Willie "no bang" Casey.

[JimStynes]

I favour Floyd to win 8 times out of 10. In his last few fights we've seen he's far from untouchable but at the same time he's extremely good. Faultless conditioning, slick attack and the precision and timing of his punches is second to none. He's also shown a tendency to walk into opponents rather than circle outside like he had previously done. This definitely looked like it was intimidating Sugar Shane who just seemed clueless on what to do. Ortiz seemed to be going in ups and downs, I think he was feeling perplexed at times but then was getting rushes of heart which was keeping him in the fight - Floyd was picking him off and meticulously breaking him down mind.

Anyway, regarding the fight I think Mayweather would start by using this new 'walking his opponent down' method and both fighters would land good shots to each other with neither going down. Mayweather would then begin to play it safe around 5 or 6 and work from a sensible distance whilst not being overly defensive. Pacquiao's main offensive flaw is his jab in my opinion. Floyd really struggles when fighters are able to create combinations off their jab - I see Pacquiao's jab as proportionally irrelevant to the rest of his arsenal, he paws with it too much and Floyd would have fun countering it with the right-hand all night.

Unanimous decision