By James Slater: It’s fair to say that when Floyd Mayweather’s team announced the unbeaten megastar was planning on fighting again on May 5th next year, with “the little fella” being the man “Money” wanted, so as “to give the fans the big fights they want,” promoter Bob Arum was less than impressed. The Top Rank boss laughed off talk that a Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao super-fight was on the horizon, and now we know why.
In a recent interview with The Philippine Star, the 79-year-old claimed Mayweather is actually looking at facing 35-year-old Mexican legend Erik Morales next May.
“You know who the little fella they have already approached is? It’s Erik Morales,” Arum said when speaking about Team-Mayweather. “And Erik will confirm it – absolutely. Erik has been approached to make the fight. I’m sure he’ll take it for the money. Why wouldn’t he? I don’t know who’s gonna buy it [the fight], but that’s what the whole nonsense is all about.
“They [Team-Mayweather] bullshitted the MGM to get the date, to get May 5th. So they cut us out of getting May 5th. But we don’t need May 5th because we’re not fighting a Spanish guy next. But they want May 5th because they’re fighting Morales.”
Arum said “who cares?” when asking what Mayweather’s plans are, adding that “there are some better guys out there for Manny to fight.” It sure seems as though Arum in convinced Mayweather will never face Pac-Man. But how will fans react if what Arum says regarding the Morales fight proves to be true? Would Mayweather, the king of the pay-per-views, be able to pull in over a million T.V buys for a fight against “El Terrible?”
There are so many questions regarding this (vaguely) possible fight it’s tough to know where to start. What weight would the fight take place at? Would it be for Mayweather’s WBC welterweight title or not? Would any fan or expert out there be willing to give Morales even a long-shot when it comes to winning? Would Mayweather’s popularity take a huge nosedive if he took this fight?
Morales has done incredibly well in his comeback, managing to give Marcos Maidana a real fight and then picking up the vacant WBC 140-pound belt. But for the faded warrior to get in there with the sublime, seemingly impossible to hit Mayweather and be expected to even make things competitive, there seems little chance. Mayweather, with his speed and timing, would have a field day against the slow-starting, not-all-that-fast-anyway Mexican hero.
We’ve seen quite enough sad-to-watch action involving ageing former greats just recently; boxing can do without another one-sided beat down where youth overcomes. And yes, Mayweather at age 34 is only a year younger than Morales, but we all know the four-weight Champ from Tijuana is a lot older than his birth certificate indicates. Mayweather is as fresh as a daisy by comparison!