By James Slater: Pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao, like the rest of us, is still hopeful he and Floyd Mayweather will get it on one day before they both call time on their great careers.
Looking ahead to his May 7th fight with Shane Mosley (the last man to have faced the now inactive and legally-troubled former P4P king) , Pac-Man also has “Money” on his mind, at least a little. Far from desperate to get the super-fight made, the 32-year old says he will certainly fight Mayweather, yet he has also said he will be content with his career if the fight fails to come off (and no, Manny is not in any way ducking Floyd).
The ball really does seem to be in Mayweather’s court – at least it will be once his legal issues have been cleared up. But Pac-Man now believes Mayweather is waiting until he, as he puts it, “gets older.”
Manny says he feels there is still a chance the fight the whole world wants to see will happen, but that Floyd, two years older than he at 34, is waiting for him to begin to show the signs of aging.
“For me, there is still a chance,” he said of the fight happening. “It’s up to him, if he wants to fight. He is trying to wait for me to get older.”
Is Pacquiao right, and is Mayeather stalling as he waits until he sees signs of the speedy southpaw’s skills beginning to fade a little? Maybe, but even if both guys are in their late 30s come fight time, the fans will still get up for the fight in a big way. Of course, it’s almost a definite that Pac-Man will retire long before he hits his mid-30s. As a result, Mayweather may be running the risk of allowing the fight to slip away by playing the waiting game. Also, Floyd’s skills could erode quicker than Manny’s do.
Pac-Man has to get past Mosley and Floyd has to have his day in court before we can even think about the two facing one another, but could this be the year the two finally meet?
It’s possible neither guy will be around too much longer. For the sake of the sport, this fight has to happen. Klitschko-Haye finally got signed, why not Pacquiao-Mayweather?