Bad Left Hook

According to a report in The Philippine Star, Manny Pacquiao was convinced that he had a May 5 date with Floyd Mayweather Jr all squared away. I'll get into why I don't think there's much to this, but here's the important bit:

A few days earlier, on Monday (Jan. 16), I had met with Pacquiao at his congressional office in the Batasan complex. ... I asked him his choice for his next opponent in May... Without any hesitation, he said, "Si Floyd (Mayweather) na yan ("It’s done, it’s Floyd"). When I asked him about the possible dates, he remained confident and so sure of himself, replying, "Either May 26 or June 9".

Since I failed to secure his permission to do a scoop of what he told me in a private conversation and not wishing to abuse his confidence, I refrained from telling my editors about Pacquiao’s statement and instead opted to wait for the next few days. I wanted to see how Arum and company would handle the erratic and unpredictable Mayweather after Pacquiao had chosen the American as his opponent.

Realistically, what it sounds like here is that Pacquiao was told by Bob Arum that they'd work on a date for May 26 or June 9.

The problem is that Mayweather has to fight on May 5, as per his agreement with the Las Vegas judge who let him delay his 90-day prison sentence. So the May 26, June 9 stuff for a Pacquiao-Mayweather fight was never going to happen. It was a way for Top Rank to put off the fight again, and I don't even know if Mayweather much cares that they did, but he'll still argue about it publicly so that he looks good.

Manny may have thought that it was going to happen, which seems a bit naïve for someone in his position, but that wouldn't be the first time Pacquiao has seemed a bit naïve about any number of things regarding his boxing career. Whether it's a front or not is up to anyone to guess, I suppose.

[ Related: Roach Says Fight Won't Happen in November, Either ]

Plus, none of this addresses why Pacquiao suddenly had a change of heart and asked for a 50-50 split, which he had earlier assured The Fans -- the people He Fights For -- wouldn't be a problem, saying he was willing to take a lesser portion of the pot to make the fight happen. For The Fans.

The rest of the article is a fluff piece for Manny Pacquiao, as frankly most of these things are, and makes certain to note that Floyd Mayweather will be going to jail where inmates will be "just waiting to lay their hands on him in as many ways as they can," which is ridiculous as Mayweather will not be in the general population whenever he does report to jail, but it makes Floyd sound terrible, and Manny is noted as a "free man, a reformed Christian and a dedicated husband and father and public servant," which makes Manny sound like the saint that surely he definitely without a question is.

So no, I don't think there's really much to this.

Either way, Mayweather is due back on May 5, if he can find someone to fight, and Pacquiao is returning on June 9.