Pacquiao-Mayweather may yet happen

Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s persistent and irritating claims that he hasn’t agreed to fight pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao because Pacquiao refuses to take the random blood tests is nothing short of a calculated move to size up the Filipino before agreeing to face him in a fight that the world wants to see.
He isn’t as dumb as he looks, to quote a line used by Muhammad Ali at a news conference prior to the “Thrilla in Manila” against Joe Frazier when answering a question from boxing man and broadcaster Hermie Rivera.
For the record, Pacquiao has agreed to take the blood test, not on Mayweather’s terms because he has no right to dictate, but in accordance with the demands of the Nevada State Athletic Commission since the fight is likely to be held in Las Vegas.
Pacquiao has agreed to the blood test in the dressing room right after the fight. If that isn’t the surest way of detecting the presence of performance-enhancing drugs, we don’t know what is.
He also agreed to have a blood test 14 days before a scheduled fight.
We figure that Mayweather is waiting for the right time, in his mind, to face Pacquiao. Maybe, just maybe, he watched the Pacquiao-Shane Mosley fight and figured that Manny was beginning to go downhill and isn’t the devastating fighter who separated Ricky Hatton from his senses, pulverized Oscar De La Hoya and ripped Miguel Cotto.
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There appears to be some justification for this assessment.
Despite dropping Mosley in the third round, Pacquiao couldn’t finish off the ageing former three-time world champion who had earlier been beaten by Mayweather, just like Hatton and De La Hoya, but not as impressively as Pacquiao did.
Trainer Freddie Roach was heard telling Pacquiao during the fight that Mosley was ready to be knocked out. But Manny, for reasons that only he knew, couldn’t do it.
For sure, Manny won handily and dominated Mosley but he whipped a fighter who had wanted to quit and was suffering from a terrible blister on his foot.
The bottom line is Manny couldn’t catch Mosley despite his vaunted speed.
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By announcing he would fight the young, strong southpaw and WBC welterweight champion Victor Ortiz on Sept. 17, the undeniable fact is that Mayweather has outsmarted Team Pacquiao.
What is worse is that Mayweather announced the Ortiz fight while the Pacquiao camp was in a flap trying to undo the damage caused by an announcement by Ilocos Sur Gov. “Chavit” Singson.
Singson said that Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim had offered Manny $65 million to fight an opponent, believed to be undefeated Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in Mexico next year.
Golden Boy Promotions CEO Richard Schaefer, who handles both Alvarez and Ortiz, got his licks in by claiming that Slim told him that the story peddled by Singson was not true.
Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, who should have been the first to know about the offer as Pacquiao’s promoter, was taken aback when he read the story.
We believe the chances of a Pacquiao-Alvarez fight are slim and none. But if Mayweather overcomes Ortiz and Pacquiao beats an ageing, smaller Juan Manuel Marquez at 144 pounds, then chances of a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight next year look promising, especially since civility has returned to the board room where Schaefer and Arum negotiate.