By Vivek Wallace: Within the last 48hrs, a Filipino news source, the Manilla Bulletin, broke a story informing the world that Manny Pacquiao has in fact agreed to Team Mayweather’s 14-day proposition for steroid testing demands. This news was met with great adulation, as the only thing more anticipated than this decision itself is the fight itself.
Speculation has grown relative to why Pacquiao finally decided to shift in his testing position ever since. One theory says Team Pacquiao needs leverage for the pending lawsuit – knowing that another decline of the test could result in a perceived ‘closet’ admission of guilt. Another theory says that Pacquiao has finally conceded to Team Mayweather, taking into account Mayweather’s victory over Shane Mosley, combined with solid PPV#’s which have routinely outnumbered his very own. A third and more likely theory shines with a hint of truth, bringing into play the fact that the mega-money Pacquiao pulled from his own pockets to help fund what turned out to be a successful campaign for a congressional seat in a local district in his country now needs to be replaced. Few legal options on the planet allow one to earn a minimal $40M for 36 minutes of hard labor, which makes this choice an easy choice to make..
Whatever the case may be, the reality is that this monumental decision removed what most found to be the last and largest obstacle standing between the two parties. Now that the matter is in the past, after much needed patience, progress has finally arrived, opening the door to another “P” word that needs to be examined between the two parties. When used in the form of a noun, according to our good friend Merriam-Webster, the word “parity” means absolute equality in value, amount, or character. While some may dispute the ‘character’ portion of this text book definition, no question, the ‘value’ could be argued in either direction. The best take on this perspective came recently when both Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole and boxrec.com shifted Floyd Mayweather jr. up to the #1 spot on recent P4P rankings.
Such a move forced Iole to address everything from racial slurs to personal threats, but it should be duly noted that a huge sum, (if not practically all), of these sentiments came primarily from die-hard countrymen of Pacquiao. For a less biased glimpse of reality, one can research the many excerpts taken from several boxing insiders, (both fighters and non-fighting writers), who suddenly feel that Mayweather’s performance against Mosley proved that there’s far more to him than many once believed. Famed trainer Naazim Richardson once said that Mayweather has to be complete, because you don’t reach this elite level in the sport without being complete”. While none of us can deny the talent and heart of Manny Pacquiao, it’s very difficult to deny the overall talent of Mayweather, particularly when you see the statistical domination he has enjoyed over opponents throughout his career.
Does this mean that Mayweather is better than Pacquiao? Not at all. What it does mean is that despite the great heroics we’ve seen in Pacquiao as he climbed the ranks to supremacy, there’s apparently one man who dares to be his equal, or perhaps even greater, if such a thing is possible. What else it means is that we are now one huge step closer to seeing this fight actually happen. That possibility is key, for the only way to truly narrow down who the best is would be by putting them in the ring and letting THEM duke it out, since fans of the two men can’t seem to figure it out.
If this tentative date of November 13th does come into fruition, although questions will be answered and a few answers may envelop a few additional questions, the true mission will be complete, as all the patience will have provided enough progress to end the debate of parity once and for all. Unless Mayweather plans to play the role of Juan Manuel Marquez, there WON’T BE any more questions of parity between the two…..but there WILL BE an established P4P king…..One who will have taken it out of the court of public opinion and earned it the hard way!
Yet again, we position ourselves to ask one another “WHO ARE YOU PICKING”? As one “EVENT” is over and a new one develops, “THE WORLD AWAITS”!
(Vivek Wallace can be reached at vivexemail@yahoo.com, 954-292-7346, Youtube (VIVEK1251), Twitter (VIVEK747), Facebook, and Myspace).