All 16,800 seats at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Vegas sold out within 15 minutes of the the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight being announced yesterday (Friday.)
The long-awaited then cancelled then long-awaited again fight of the century will finally happen at the venue on Saturday May 2nd.
Floyd ?Money? Mayweather has always seemed to regard his unbeaten record just marginally behind money in importance. But, it seems that as the champ?s promised retirement date of September approaches, Manny Pacquaio is an itch he simply has to scratch ? risking his flawless legacy be darned.
Yes, it?s a huge shame that the match wasn?t made when the two prize pugilists were at the height of their powers after each won big in 2008 and seemed on imminent collision course.
Mayweather?s recalcitrance caused such fury among the frustrated US sports media that even reporters as august as ESPN and ?The Washington Post?s? Mike Wilbon openly accused Floyd of cowardice.
If the latter was a play aimed at goading the champ to take the fight, it has worked. Seven years late.
The Pacquiao who will face Mayweather in May seems well past his prime now, his record resoundingly besmirched after a wicked Juan Manuel Marquez right hand to the mouth had him kissing canvas in the sixth round of their fourth and final meeting at the end of 2012.
Did that defeat once and for all draw Pacman?s sting leaving Mayweather confident to proceed? Or is the siren call of history simply too great for the 38 year-old Michigan boxer born Floyd Joy Sinclair to resist?
Hang on to your hats. A black one for the ?baddie? Mayweather in the eyes of fans; white for Philippino Pacquiao, a devout Christian ?genuinely devoted to the poor? according to the Bleacher Report?s Jonathan Snowden.
Boxing has been in a painfully slow decline over the last few decades, but the mere announcement of this fight is already resonating far beyond the walled garden of pay-TV.
The sweet science is center stage again.
By Stan Wenners
Money and Manny finally get it on
