All the money in the world, it seemed, couldn’t force Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao into the same ring for what would’ve been the biggest fight in modern boxing history. Now the WBC is seemingly trying to do so via their latest welterweight rankings.
Mayweather, who’s held the title in some form for almost a decade, has a mandatory defense asked for by the WBC against Pacquiao.
Pacquiao has been named the mandatory #1 challenger for Floyd for that title. This is where it gets interesting. Floyd can face Manny under his own promotion, et al, and negotiate a fight to his financial backing. If both sides can’t come to an agreement it’ll go to an open big where any promoter can cough up the necessary financial backing for the fight. At that point Floyd would have to vacate the title or come to an agreement to fight, of course.
Kubryk’s Take: I can see Floyd trying to make this fight, if only half heartedly, because he’s at his strongest financial terms. While the fight with Amir Khan might be nearly done I could see him trying to play Manny off him, trying to secure a better financial deal in the process.
Floyd may treasure the WBC title but I think he’ll vacate it before being forced into a financial settlement not to his choosing. That’s always been the key to understanding Floyd; he cares more about banking the big checks and not titles at this point. He doesn’t need the WBC; they need him. Expect him to proceed around those lines before anything else.
This will probably turn into a game of chicken between Floyd and the WBC, with Floyd holding all the cards.
