Mayweather vs Pacquiao: The thrill is almost gone...

Assuming that Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao decide to meet up on an even playing field this coming March, I would like to take it a step further and share with you my thoughts and concerns on what I believe will happen should the fight take place at all.

It's been an uphill battle so far, and the media has covered all the reasons why Camp Mayweather has requested a change in the type of testing given prior to a championship fight. Quite frankly, it is my humble opinion that promoter Bob Arum and his public relations machine have not helped their man one iota. There have been a string of excuses and obvious lies which have only helped alienate the fans and have given many food for thought. A great number of aficionados who couldn't wait to see this bout are now openly expressing disgust and indifference at the thought of the fight taking place at all.

There are world wide financial problems that have trickled down from the highest paid executives to the average Joe, so, it is very hard for most of us to understand how principled Manny Pacquiao can be to walk away from a guaranteed $25 million dollars purse just because he won't agree to a more sophisticated -but not necessarily unknown in the sports world- type of testing.

Arum contributed to the confusion when he stated that Manny was afraid of needles, yet and still, Pacquiao is heavily tattooed. Pacquiao hasn't helped the cause either by dictating when he is willing to be tested, something unheard of in any other sport, or even in the business world, in every day life. Picture a job applicant who must submit to blood and urine tests before being considered for a position. Imagine that person being told an appointment has been set for him to be tested as part of the pre-employment protocol. Joe Blow tells the potential employer on what days he would be willing to take the tests. Chances are Mr. Blow will remain unemployed a bit longer. The whole point of testing should be that it is done unannounced, otherwise, why bother?

All those situations set aside, let's go further and explore what may be even more of a problem than getting past the testing debacle. So, in an ideal world, the two men have agreed to all the demands and rules and regulations, and now our very special time machine takes us to fight night, whenever and wherever that may be...

Here are the possible scenarios and what each one may bring:

1. Floyd Mayweather wins by decision. - Pacquiao fans and bigwigs will blame the judges for not having scored the fight correctly and will rant and rave that Floyd received a belated Christmas gift. No peace in the valley here....

2. Manny Pacquiao wins by decision - Mayweather fans will definitely raise holy heck, not to mention his camp and his corner. Fingers will be pointed at the officials and there will be no peace in the valley here either.

3. Floyd Mayweather wins by TKO or KO - Hmmm... well, there will be those who will accuse Mayweather of taking PED's himself, or they will say the referee's count was too fast, or the blow was illegal somehow, and you can bet your bottom dollar there would be a controversial ending to this fairy tale turned nightmare.

4. Manny Pacquiao wins by TKO or KO - Oh boy! What now? If the fight went on without Pacquiao having agreed to the Olympic style drug testing, there will be no doubt in the minds of most fans that the Pacman is juicing, while Manny's people will gloat and boast about the power their man possesses. Peace in the valley? Hardly....

5. Manny Pacquiao wins by TKO or KO after having taken the Olympic style testing - This would be the closest we would come to having a peaceful ending to this novela, although there will be those who will say that the pre-fight hoopla took a toll on Floyd Jr.

My point is that a line has been crossed and there is no coming back from it. All the haggling prior to the fight has taken a toll on the fans' minds, and judging by the pulse on many forums and emails sent to us by boxing fans, people are losing interest in this match. They have real life issues that they must deal with on a daily basis, and it's hard for them/us to understand why a man would rather pass on $25 million dollars rather than agree to take a more astringent -but nevertheless valid and used in many other sports- type of test. It makes me think of what TV judge Judy always says, and I paraphrase, "if it doesn't make sense, it simply isn't true."

I strongly suggest that they triple up security should this fight take place at all, whenever and wherever. The aura is dark, the possibilities as detailed above point to a no win situation no matter what the outcome of the bout might be. The back and forth, the stubbornness, the lies and the posturing have taken away the real excitement from what could have been the mother of all fights, and that, dear readers, is not good for the sport of boxing.