Boxing Needs Pacquiao-Mayweather

In it's heyday, boxing was one of the premier sporting events in the US. Those days are long gone. Not only has boxing been distanced by the main sports, it's now well behind main competitor Mixed Martial Arts in popularity. The problem? There are very few stars, zero quality heavyweights, and no legit rivalries. Way back when, you had Ali-Frazier and Ward-Gotti. Even Mike Tyson had memorable bouts with Evander Holyfield. Right now, the casual sports fan could care less about boxing, because there's no big bouts to hype. A matchup between the two biggest names in the game would change all that. That's why Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather must face off for the good of the sport.



Back in 2009, it looked like these two would indeed go blow for blow in the ring, but two months before it was scheduled, the fight got canceled. Both sides claimed it was the other camp that caused the cancellation. Mayweather's side said that Pacquaio wouldn't submit to Olympic-style drug testing. Meanwhile, Manny denied the allegations and told Money to "Shut your pretty mouth." The war of words only further ignited the fire between the two fighters and fueled the hype surrounding the potential future bout. But it wasn't meant to be. Two years later, there's still no proposed match up and that's a serious problem. With the sport on life support it's imperative that the two most entertaining boxers on the planet meet up in the ring.

I remember when Mayweather faced off against Oscar De La Hoya in 2007. Despite the fact that De La Hoya was past his prime, the excitement surrounding the fight was insane. It shattered the record for most PPV orders with 2.7 million households watching. We really got to see what Floyd was made of in a split decision victory. This was a guy who was extremely quick with his jabs and with his words and could fire up a crowd like no other.

No one except perhaps Mr. Pacquaio. Pac-Man's speed and evasiveness made him a nearly impossible match up for anyone in his weight class. In fact, the Pride of the Philippines has been called the boxer of the decade and the best pound for pound fighter in the world. Since the failed match up, both boxers have gone undefeated and have still looked stronger than ever.

With Floyd at an unbelievable career 41-0 record and Manny sporting a sparkling 52-3-2 mark, this could be the fight of the century and you can bet it would break the old PPV record. This is exactly what boxing needs.