SportsFilter: The Thursday Huddle:
A place to discuss the sports stories that aren't making news, share links that aren't quite front-page material, and diagram plays on your hand. Remember to count to five Mississippi before commenting in anger.
Rocket relaunched? Probably not, but stranger things have happened...
posted by grum@work at 11:24 AM on November 03, 2011
I'll believe a Mayweather Pacquiao fight when I see it. The money is too good for Mayweather to avoid it, hopefully. I think Mayweather is afraid of losing which is why he played games with Pacquiao the last time around.
posted by insomnyuk at 11:52 AM on November 03, 2011
I think Mayweather is afraid of losing which is why he played games with Pacquiao the last time around.
You're not the first or last person to think that way but I believe that Mayweather and his camp feel that Pacquiao is the one that has avoided the Mayweather fight.
Mayweather requested for Pacquiao to submit to Olympic style drug testing which Pacquiao did not want and even went on to say that the reason why he refused is because he's afraid of needles.
Afraid of needles you say? Wait! Don't you have tattoos? Interesting.
posted by BornIcon at 12:27 PM on November 03, 2011
I don't think Mayweather's ego would ever admit the possibility that he was less than better than everyone in the whole world. I thought the whole refusal to do further drug testing was bizarre.
posted by bperk at 01:22 PM on November 03, 2011
I honestly think both guys have really good reasons to make it seem like they want the fight, but I don't think either of them really does. While I would initially say I would expect a UD Mayweather, I readily admit Mayweather could lose, and he really wants to keep that zero. And while Pacquiao has lost, not in recent memory-he's essentially undefeated as far as the public is concerned. He ALSO wants to keep that hypothetical zero.
Another factor: the loser is no longer the P4P #1. While both believe they currently are, if this fight happens, the Loser has to admit he's not.
The one good thing that may make this fight happen is that both are running out of realistic people to fight, and both are starting to get old.
In a related news, I dislike how the general way the dispute is being sold is "Floyd=black hat, Manny=white hat". Floyd's an ass, to be sure, but Manny isn't as pure as the driven snow, either (not relating to drugs, more to the business-side of boxing). It's easy to make Floyd good, Manny bad be the narrative, but I'm not sure it's accurate.
My personal belief is that if either of these guys really wanted the fight, it would have happened already.
posted by Bonkers at 01:22 PM on November 03, 2011
I dislike how the general way the dispute is being sold is "Floyd=black hat, Manny=white hat".
But that's the perfect way to portray it for PPV buy rates. Floyd is more than willing to be the villian while Pacquiao is the singing hero dressed in white.
Where's John Woo when you need him? Quick, cue the doves!
posted by BornIcon at 03:05 PM on November 03, 2011
All 202 of Lionel Messi's goals.
posted by insomnyuk at 06:38 PM on November 03, 2011
Do you really believe that Mayweather is setting up a Pacquiao fight?
posted by BornIcon at 10:39 AM on November 03, 2011