Another clue was left by the Floyd Mayweather camp that they do not have any interest in making a Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight a reality in 2010.
Speaking to New York Post columnist George Willis late last week, Floyd’s adviser Leonard Ellerbe expressed a distinct lack of enthusiasm about making the fight everyone wants to see. “We’re not thinking about nobody or nothing. We’re just looking forward to a vacation.”
Willis is as Floyd-friendly as anyone in the boxing print media, so to receive this type of cryptic response from Ellerbe is not a positive sign about the fight being an eventuality. Nor was Ellerbe’s next comment to Willis: “I get phone calls every day about a number of different opportunities for Floyd. That’s what happens when you’re the biggest star in the sport.”
Boxing fans (and perhaps HBO executives) surely would have preferred to have heard Ellerbe’s words ring more to the tune of, “Floyd Mayweather will fight Manny Pacquiao for a 50-50 purse split as soon as Manny agrees to accept the 14-day cutoff for random blood tests.”
Or: “Floyd Mayweather is eager to line up the best opponents and fight them all one by one – because, like Floyd said about changing his style to be more aggressive vs. Mosley, he vows to give the fans what they want to see.”
Or: “Floyd is in the check cashing business and since he can earn $40 million and then another $40 million for a guaranteed rematch with Pacquiao (total of $80,000,000), we are very interested in doing our best to make the Pacquiao fight happen before embarking on a world tour of more safe handpicked opponents in Great Britain, Japan and Dubai, which we hope HBO and Golden Boy will finance.”
But when Team Floyd says they are “not thinking about nobody or nothing” right now, one might not be far off the mark if he or she interpreted those words to mean, “Manny Pacquiao is still way too dangerous a threat for us to consider at this point in time, we have a long way to go to make Floyd a household brand name and entertainment superstar. We can make big money by taking far safer avenues than Manny Pacquiao who is not an entrepreneur or his own boss.”
The Post’s George Willis certainly is not very expectant that Mayweather and Pacquiao is going to happen, as the lead of his Saturday column opened with, “Don’t hold your breath about anything developing soon regarding a bout between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao….Nothing, I repeat nothing is imminent.” The column headline stated: “Nothing In Works For Mayweather-Pacquiao Showdown.”
Willis also included quotes from a Pacquiao adviser: “Mayweather is the furthest thing on our mind. After the May 10 election, I have arranged for Manny and his family to take a well-deserved two-week secluded vacation. After the vacation we will sit down and discuss and plan Manny Pacquiao’s next fight…We will not be bullied or entertain any additional rules by our opponent.”
How the people over at HBO might feel about this latest development, or lack thereof, about making “The Super Bowl of Boxing” a reality, is anyone’s guess.