A Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather fight may be a legitimate possibility, because it sounds like Showtime executives have a strong interest in putting it together.
Mayweather signed an exclusive six-fight deal with Showtime earlier in the year and has already fought twice on the network. He has four fights left and seems headed for a clash with Amir Khan in May. It sounds like a fight with Pac-Man could follow.
Showtime Vice President Stephen Espinoza told the Los Angeles Times’ Lance Pugmire that he plans to reach out to Pacquiao’s promoter Bob Arum about making the superfight. Espinoza obviously emphasized that the fight would have to take place on Showtime. That could be a major impediment, because Arum has a relationship with HBO, which televised Pac-Man’s last fight.
Arum says he would want the fight to be on both networks the way the Mike Tyson-Lennox Lewis was. I really don’t see that happening. You think those competing networks would agree to televise the same fight?
Mayweather has all the leverage in this situation, and I have a hard time envisioning Arum making concessions and cooperating in order to make a deal. I also still don’t see Mayweather having any motivation for taking the fight.
It still seems like each fighter will fight one time before the possible superfight would be made. The only way I could imagine Mayweather agreeing to a fight is if Pacquiao looks vulnerable against his next oppoennet. But if Pac-Man doesn’t look good in his next fight, wouldn’t that take the luster off a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight anyway?
Showtime can make their efforts to set up this fight, but I still don’t see it happening. Mayweather is the real boss, and if he doesn’t want to fight Pacquiao, he’s not going to.
