The fight for which boxing fans have been clamoring for the better part of a decade will be dead in the water if Floyd Mayweather Jr. beats Saul Alvarez on Saturday at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
To be clear, the odds are rapidly slimming of Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao meeting even if Money loses to Alvarez.
However, that outcome would at least provide a glimmer of hope.
If Money bests Alvarez, he is going to have very little motivation to meet Pacquiao, and I get the feeling that Money enjoys denying this bout as much as he would enjoy actually beating Pacquiao in the ring.
Mayweather takes great pride in his ability to manage his career and take control of the cash flow he generates. This has been a big source of why this fight never happened in the first place. Money has always wanted the bigger cut.
Now, with Pacquiao slumping to two straight defeats and his bargaining power shrinking, the Filipino is lowering his monetary demands.
According to ESPN, Pacquiao's advisor, Michael Koncz, said not only that Pacman is willing to agree to any kind of testing that Money himself is willing to undergo, but also that Pacquiao is willing to accept only 40 percent of the purse.
Here is the quote from Koncz:
We're willing to do the blood tests whenever and any kind of testing as long as Floyd does the same, and we're willing to give him 60 percent, and we'll take 40 percent. Now it's all up to Floyd. I don't hold out my breath over whether that fight is going to happen. I don't blame Floyd, what his mentality thinking is I'm not sure.
The problem is that the reason Pacquiao is decreasing his demands is the very reason Money is less inclined to take this fight. Pacquiao needs something to put him back in the center of the boxing spotlight.
With Pacquiao's position diminishing, Money is enjoying flexing his muscle.
For example, in July Mayweather told Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports that he wasn't going to fight Pacquiao while the latter was working with Bob Arum and Top Rank Promotions.
Arum and Mayweather have a contentious history, and I have to believe that Mayweather is taking great joy in denying Arum a part of this payday.
These things will make it difficult for this fight to ever take place. Now, if Mayweather beats Canelo, it will assure that fight never takes place.
Money is going to break pay-per-view records for this fight, or come close to it. Should he win, there will be no challengers to his status as the pound-for-pound king. He will also have a happy bunch at Showtime/CBS, where he is signed on for four more fights.
In other words, Money is going to face little to no pressure to fight any specific opponent if he beats Canelo. Critics will have a hard time saying he's ducking opponents, and he will have generated enough money to appease those paying him.
So, on Saturday night, if Mayweather stops Canelo, he will also be stopping the greatest fight that never happened.
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