Floyd's 'injury' forces Pacquiao into Cotto clash ensuring Top Rank US bout for boxing fans
So much for Floyd Mayweather’s eagerly anticipated comeback. Just two months after announcing his Las Vegas showdown with Juan Manuel Marquez, he was last week forced to withdraw through injury.Barely four weeks have passed since Mayweather was in the London hyping the fight. And then last Sunday he called it all off citing a rib injury.
One week on and there’s been no word on whether or not the bout will be rescheduled. A lot has been made of Mayweather’s injury and his silence has lead some to question if he was injured at all.
Mayweather was tempted back to the ring under the pretence he’d get a shot at current pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao before the year was out.
However recent events have seen Mayweather slip down the Pacquiao pecking order, and the prospect of that fight being made looks increasingly unlikely.
The 32-year-old’s pay demands are said to have all but KO’d the fight and some ask if he’s trying to save face.Indeed, Top Rank supremo Bob Arum has grown tired of Mayweather, blasting the self-styled ‘Pretty Boy’ for what he calls absurd demands.
“He’s taking the position that unless he gets more money, there will never be a fight” said Arum. “Manny is the most sought-after boxer on the planet. If Mayweather persists with this position, a fight will never happen.”
US boxing pundit Steve Farhood doesn’t believe that Mayweather is faking, given the extent of his financial woes. He argues it was only a matter of time before he had to return to the ring – whether it was against Pacquiao or not.
“I don’t doubt the injury. The longer Mayweather goes without a payday the worse for him because his money issues are well documented” said Farhood. “I can’t picture him turning down the chance to make X-amount of millions for four or five months.”
With Mayweather having priced himself out of the reckoning, Pacquiao will turn his attention to Miguel Angel Cotto.
In this column last week we touted this match up. And following Cotto’s defeat of Joshua Clottey in front of a full house at Madison Square Garden in New York it seems more likely than ever.
Bob Arum has wasted no time in naming a date for this October. For him making the Pacquiao v Cotto fight is considerably easier than Pacquiao v Mayweather because both fighters are promoted by Top Rank.
Pacquiao has become a world wide phenomenon, and Cotto gave The Garden its biggest attendance at a boxing match in almost 10 years.
Cotto will be hoping the fight takes place in the Big Apple, given his huge following there. And Farhood was impressed that Cotto drew such a sizeable crowd.
“It doesn’t happen that often” he said, “It speaks volumes of Cotto as an attraction in New York City. He’s become something of a franchise, the only fighter who can draw that crowd.”
So Pacquiao v Cotto looks a dead cert. Whether the fight takes place in New York or in Las Vegas, it will be a huge box office draw.But it raises questions about what weight the fight will be fought at. Pacquiao, given his P4P status, can fight at any weight, but for Cotto it’s not as straight forward.
“Cotto is not a small welterweight” said Farhood, “we know how much he struggled to make 140lbs. I can’t see him doing what Shane Mosley ‘s apparently doing, which is dropping three or four pounds to accommodate Pacquiao.”
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