Mayweather v Pacquiao: The super-fight that may never be

WELTERWEIGHT champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. will step up in weight to challenge Miguel Cotto for his WBA light-middleweight title on May 5, writes Elliot Millward.

The fight will take place at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas after ‘Money’ Mayweather was granted a one-fight license by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. The commission voted 5-0 in favour of granting the license after a meeting held about the American’s pending jail sentence.

He has to report for an 87-day jail sentence at Clark County Detention Centre in Las Vegas on June 1, following charges relating to a domestic violence incident in September 2010.

With reference to the much-anticipated but increasingly elusive showdown with Manny Pacquiao, Mayweather tweeted: “I'm fighting Miguel Cotto on May 5 because Miss Pac Man is ducking me.”

Boasting a perfect 42 fight unbeaten record, Mayweather is moving up to fight at 154-pounds for the second time, his previous bout at the weight being a split decision points win over Oscar De La Hoya in 2007.

Cotto (37-2) stepped up to the light-middleweight division after losing to Pacquiao in 2009 and has won his last three fights, claiming the WBA title belt in the process.

The three-weight world champion tweeted: “I'm back in the ring on May 5 and I will beat him.”

Whilst the 31-year-old Puerto Rican is a very credible opponent for ‘Money’, being the third biggest pay-per-view draw in boxing after Mayweather and Pacquiao, the question on everyone’s lips is why the fight with Filipino Pacquiao was not made.

The two are considered to be the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, yet still the super-fight everyone wants to see eludes us. The fight would be the richest in boxing history and both Mayweather and Pacquiao would earn career high paydays. Money is not the problem.

In the upcoming Mayweather-Cotto fight both men have agreed to stringent Olympic style drugs testing. This was thought to be an issue with Pacquiao but both he and his trainer Freddie Roach have since denied this, so drugs testing should not be the problem either.

Boxing is a notoriously political sport, with fighters being managed and promoted by different concerns, sometimes making it almost impossible to make fights. With Pacquiao being promoted by Bob Arum’s Top Rank and
Mayweather by Golden Boy Promotions it has been very difficult for both parties to agree on all the stipulations of the fight, including blood testing, purse size and revenue split.

With Pacquiao due to fight on June 9, most probably against American light-welterweight titlist Timothy Bradley, and Mayweather, 34, having to report for his jail sentence on June 1, the earliest the fight could be made is late 2012.

What is now clear is that if the fight doesn’t happen soon, it will never happen. The more time that passes without the two sides agreeing a deal, the less likely it becomes that the fight will ever be made. Mayweather-Pacquiao could become the super-fight that never was.