Muhammad Ali must be dreamin’
Thrilled, surprised, impressed, whatever, pundits could not seem to have enough of Manny Pacquiao after his inspired conquest of previously unbeaten Timothy Bradley last month.
Muhammad Ali came up with an instant promotion, ranking the Filipino superhero equal to Floyd Mayweather Jr. by tweeting that the two top welterweight division rivals should clash, the sooner the better.
The Ali marching order was, of course, strictly directed at Mayweather, for the unbeaten welterweight division monarch to step out and wage honest battle against the tested warrior from the Philippines, who has been aching to crush him with unpredictable fists.
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Before Ali, there was trainer Freddie Roach, who tried to promote but also unwittingly demoted Pacquiao when he suggested his prized pupil could next fight at 140 lb, at light welterweight, where he should be at his knockout best.
Ali did promote, Roach sort of tried to diminish but, given the floor, Floyd Mayweather Jr came up with an absurd view of the recycled Filipino world welterweight champion he has been doggedly dodging all these gutless years.
Mayweather called Pacquiao amateur, after the Filipino ring great allowed himself to get entangled in a wild, mindless wind-up with the frantic Bradley, who later saluted Pacquiao as the best he had ever fought.
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Like it or not, that dirty description of the eight-division world title winner revered as a national treasure in his country landed like a nasty shove on Filipino pride.
Ironically, it was Mayweather himself who would be exposed as both overpriced and overrated, if not yet worthless, following his latest bout wherein he repeatedly melted in the thick of battle against Marcos Maidana, new prizefight star from Argentina.
With his shaky stand that saw Mayweather escaping and eking out a dubious majority decision thru his patented grabbing and use of infectious elbow and shoulder, the question is being asked whether he has slipped irreparably.
Mayweather has been demanding a rematch in a bid to retouch and redecorate both his shattered pride and price tag.
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No problem there should there be more than enough spectators at ringside to again jeer at the boastful world champion whom even his countrymen love to hate.
As for Ali, The Greatest, in tweetting, “Maybe after you’ve rested up we can see you rumble with Manny Pacquiao,” could actually be hoping for the impossible.
It’s like this. If there’s a bigger truth that got unraveled in Mayweather’s last bout, it was that Money May, for all his wealth, experience and defensive genius, cannot stand up to a power-unit onslaught of the relentless kind Pacquiao has patented.
Meanwhile, boxing guru Hermie Rivera, tweeting from his San Jose, California, nest, says “This bout will go for naught unless Bob Arum frees himself of any involvement with Manny Pacquiao.”
It’s on with the guessing game, the wilder the better.
