MANILA, Philippines – While the talks of a Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao fight resurfaced late last year, many continued to doubt whether the fight will ever come to fruition given the history of the negotiations.
Understandably so since the talks have bogged down repeatedly since 2009 and both fighters faced anyone but each other.
But then came a chance meeting between Mayweather and Pacquiao at an NBA game in Miami where the two welterweight champions sat at court side across each other. There, at the AmericanAirlines Arena, Mayweather and Pacquiao finally met face-to-face and exchanged phone numbers before continuing their impromptu chat at Pacquiao’s suite.
That changed everything.
Manny Pacquiao (left) and Floyd Mayweather Jr. attend the Miami Heat-Milwaukee Bucks games. Screengrab from the Heat’s Twitter account
“No doubt, that was a turning point,” Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz, who was there at the hotel when the two talked, told Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole.
“I’d met Floyd many times, but that was the first time Floyd and Manny met face to face and got a chance to look eye to eye. I think it was a motivator for both sides to bend a bit more. I take my hat off and tip it to Floyd for stepping up to the plate.”
Koncz said that Mayweather, this time, showed openness for the negotiations.
“It could have been a lot worse of a negotiation. I’m not saying it was easy, but it could have been a lot more difficult. But once that meeting took place, the demeanor changed. Everything changed to the positive, and I give Floyd a lot of credit for that, I really do.”
What ultimately changed is that Mayweather finally thinks that the timing for the showdown with Manny Pacquiao couldn’t be any better despite what many are saying that this should’ve happened years ago when both sports icons were at the peak of their careers.
“I think the timing is right now because I’m a lot bigger status-wise than I was,” Mayweather, who turns 38 on Tuesday, also said in an interview with Yahoo Sports. “Status-wise, I’m still growing, but I’m bigger than I was. And I’m pretty sure that Manny Pacquiao, he is bigger, too. I have a lot of fans and he has a lot of fans and the fans around the world have been anticipating the fight for a long time.”
According to Iole, Mayweather was “very gracious” in speaking of Pacquiao during the telephone interview.
The flamboyant Mayweather, who has constantly taken jabs at Pacquiao on social media, even went on to call Pacquiao a “true champion” for being able to recover from his devastating knockout loss to Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012.
“A true champion knows how to take a loss and bounce back and overcome, and that’s what Pacquiao has done,” Mayweather said. “I give him full credit for that. He deserves it.”
“He’s come back and gotten some solid victories. He has his supporters, who I’m pretty sure believe he’s going to beat me, and I have my supporters, who I know believe I’m going to beat him. Let’s get in the ring and see who wins, who the better man is. That’s what boxing is all about, and we’re going to give the fans the chance to find out on May 2.”