Manny Pacquiao has made it clear that he would like to fight Floyd Mayweather at some point before either man retires. Rekindling serious talks of a fight with Mayweather can't happen unless Pacquiao takes care of business against Brandon Rios on Saturday night.
While Mayweather has looked dominant in wins over Robert Guerrero and Canelo Alvarez this year, Pacquiao has lost his last two fights. Most recently, he was brutally knocked out by his rival Juan Manuel Marquez in Dec. 2012.
If nothing else, Pacquiao lost tons of leverage in a potential fight with Mayweather. Even if Pacquiao destroys Rios—as many predict he will—it still doesn't vault him back into the two-man conversation for pound-for-pound best in the sport.
With both men aging (Mayweather is 36, Pacquiao is 34) the window for the two to compete while they are still relevant is closing. Recently, Pacquiao stated that he wanted to take on Mayweather. In this interview with Marcos Villegas of Fight Hub, Pacquiao asks for the fight as fervently as he ever has.
Perhaps Pacquiao is a bit more desperate to make the fight happen now that he has been brought face to face with his boxing mortality. He knows the end is near. If he is ever going to battle the only elite fighter of his era that he hasn't faced, it needs to happen soon.
More than ever, Mayweather knows he's in control. In this interview with ESPN from Feb. 2013, Mayweather says he doesn't even think the fight is as big of a draw as it once was.
Leading up to his bout with Alvarez, Mayweather sat down with the Wall Street Journal's Lee Hawkins. He told Hawkins he would fight Pacquiao if he joined Mayweather's Money Team Promotions.
It is unclear whether Money was serious about that position, but obviously the chances of that seem slim. Without some major occurrences, so too are the chances we'll see the two legends in the ring together any time soon.
If Pacquiao convincingly defeats Rios, it is a step in the right direction, but making the fight a reality is still a long walk away.
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