Mayweather vs Pacquiao.... not happening?

December 26, 2009 by Editor In Chief

I'm disgusted.
 
I can't believe these characters can't get together and figure out how to make this fight a reality. With the latest reports saying that the primary issue is drug testing, it's ridiculous that this fight is going to fall apart.
 
With this many egos and especially with Floyd being involved, we all should have known that this had the potential to unravel at any minute. But, this fight is what boxing needs. Boxing has really fallen to the background, especially with the emergence of MMA and this fight really could have helped put it back on the average sports fan's radar. These are the two biggest names out there and both of them are still pretty much in the prime of their career.
 
But, this is exactly what is wrong with boxing.... it is far too difficult to get the big fighters together for big fights. Sure, the MMA world has some of the same problems with Fedor (and now Hendo) signing with Strikeforce, but by and large, the UFC has the promotion side of this figured out. They have done a fantastic job of signing the right fighters and making fights happen that people actually care about. The approach in boxing promotion is all wrong and we've seen way too many fights not happen.

 
This whole thing is just silly to me. They should really have one set of rules around drug testing across the entire sport, and then we don't have arguments like this that get in the way of big time fights. While I completely support drug testing, especially after all the nonsense in baseball over the past few years, I am 100% with the PacMan on this one. The testing does seem over the top compared to what happens in normal fights. Maybe it'll happen... who knows... I'm still holding out hope that there is enough money on the table that someone blinks and we get this done.
 
While we're on the topic, boxing should also fix:
1. the frequency of the fights (the top names fight way too infrequently)
2. the assessibility of fights (I havent seen a decent fight on non PPV in ages... and with the way they are spread out, it becomes near impossible to take an interest in an up and coming fighter)
I'm sure I could go on for a while.... tell us what you think about this fight and about what else boxing can do to improve the sport.