By Norm Frauenheim
Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao went one-on-one in an old-school way almost forgotten by all the methods offered by social media. Face-to-face. Imagine that.
What took so long? It’s a fair question, one that they probably will ask themselves if they finally sign a deal to fight. But Twitter didn’t get in the way of their chance meeting in Miami during and after a Milwaukee Bucks-Heat game Tuesday night.
They looked into each other’s eyes instead of simply engaging in an exchange of taunts through various digital platforms that have become today’s stage. It’s mostly about ego and entertainment, Hits and followers are like laughs and applause. Gain them with jokes and insults. But it’s no way to negotiate.
According to various media reports, Mayweather initiated the meeting by approaching Pacquiao at court side. Then, the real business was conducted in Pacquiao’s hotel suite, according to Pacquiao advisor Michael Koncz. Koncz told the Associated Press and www.ringtv.com that Tuesday’s two meetings were the first between the two rivals. That’s astonishing. They didn’t run into each other at the Ferrari dealership?
Boxing is a small community, after all But it’s also tribal. Fighters stay with those they trust. Loyalty is their first commandment. The second, third and fourth, too. So, yeah, it’s not beyond belief that Mayweather and Pacquiao have been avoiding each other like wary rivals circling the same prey.
Cheers to Mayweather for initiating the night’s first meeting and asking for the second one. Cheers, too, to Koncz for seemingly encouraging the personal exchange.
A snowstorm in the Northeast might have put Mayweather and Pacquiao in the same place for one night.
But the coincidence provided an opportunity and Koncz knew it. It was beginning to look as if negotiations for a May 2 showdown were dead on arrival. But that was before Mayweather and Pacquiao looked at each other during an hour-long conversation that they’ve never had. Suddenly, there’s optimism instead of the same old futility.
According to Koncz and Pacquaio promoter Bob Arum, there’s an agreement between the networks, Time Warner’s HBO and CBS’ Showtime. Each would produce a special on its own fighter – HBO with Pacquiao and Showtime with Mayweather.
It still isn’t clear who will do the blow-by-blow account and ringside analysis. But it sounds as if an agreement is in the works.
Would there be renewed hope — if not a real chance — for one if Pacquiao and Mayweather had not met?
No.
It’s not the first time that the fighters themselves have broken what seems to be an impossible deadlock. Still, it’s a reminder that, in the end, there’s some real leverage in their dangerous hands.
For as long as there has been an opening bell, fighters have talked about taking the judges out of a fight. It’s one way of promising a stoppage. It’s another way of eliminating the subjectivity that has always haunted the sport. Controversial decisions are bad for business.
In effect, the Pacquiao-Mayweather summit is an attempt at exactly that: Eliminate the middlemen. Talks between CEOs, promoters, managers, advisers, trainers, broadcasters and conditioning coaches appeared to be going nowhere other than in the way.
In the end, only the talk between unlikely business partners might matter. In the end, only Pacquiao and Mayweather will throw punches at each other. Only they can agree to do so.
