By Allan Fox: Retired stars Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr did it in front of the media today in Japan. It seemed a bit strange, and Mayweather, 45, and Pacquiao, 43, would meet in Japan.
Mayweather has been out of the ring in terms of a real fight since 2017, and younger boxing fans have never seen him in action. To them, he’s just an older guy who won’t quit the sport despite his advanced age.
This was likely an event staged to begin early promotion of an exhibition match to sell boxing on pay-per-view to the public.
However, it is questionable if there is any fan interest in seeing Pacquiao and Mayweather fight for 10 to 12 rounds in an exhibition match at this point.
Their previous fight in 2015 was unwatchable as Mayweather played it safe, jabbing and moving all night against an injured Pacquiao. After the fight, Pacquiao pushed for a rematch, but surprisingly, Mayweather did not want to participate in a second fight.
“There is no plan on how to beat Floyd Mayweather; he can tell you himself,” Mayweather told the media, with Pacquiao at his side. “No one has a plan for how to beat Floyd Mayweather. Don’t let them trick you into getting your ass kicked again.”
“He is older than me; I’m still young, so what I’ve done and achieved in boxing is unique,” Pacquiao said. “Gain [titles in] eight different weight divisions is not easy.”
It’s doubtful fans are willing to pay to see Mayweather and Pacquiao fight again. It’s been too many years since they last fought, and people don’t see them as relevant anymore as they did in 2015. If they fought now, it would be another veteran fight, and that’s really boring.
It appears that Mayweather’s mind has changed about not wanting to be part of a second fight with Pacquiao. Some would say that Mayweather’s declining pay-per-view numbers for his exhibition matches have made him desperate for a big cash fight against Pacquiao and Conor McGregor. Conor, as he already said, is not interested in fighting Mayweather again, so Pacquiao is in the spotlight.
Mayweather is fighting a three-round exhibition match tonight against Mikuru Asakura in Saitama, Japan. So far, there has been little interest from American fans in Mayweather’s exhibition against Mikuru. Fans see him as another mismatch for Mayweather, and they’re not interested in buying him on pay-per-view.
Of course, Mayweather and Pacquiao’s meeting in Japan today might help entice some of the older fans to want to open their pockets to order Floyd’s display tonight. If not for that, Mayweather-Mikuru will probably be seen by very few fans in the United States.
Pacquiao will fight an exhibition match against DK Yoo in December and Jaber Zayani in February.
“When we talk about what’s going on in the ring, I’m the best,” Mayweather said. “No matter how you score it, no matter how you slice it, no matter how you slice it if you go back 100 years, 300 years back, to now, there’s only one better, and that’s Floyd Mayweather.”
Mayweather’s comment that he is the “best” suggests he is out of touch with reality. He is not the best, and he would be destroyed if he fought Errol Spence Jr, Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis or Terence Crawford.
In terms of historical importance, Sugar Ray Leonard and Tommy Hearns were better welterweights than Mayweather. When Floyd fought at 147, he played it safe, fighting beatable guys for the most part and staying away from Pacquiao until he had already been beaten by Juan Manuel Marquez and Tim Bradley.
Only after Pacquiao began to show signs of slipping did Mayweather finally face him, and it was a terribly boring fight with many boxing fans feeling they were ripped off.
