You know how everyone seems to be waiting with baited breath for the Floyd Mayweather Jr. – Manny Pacquiao fight to finally happen? Well, it appears that we’re likely to run out of breath before that happens. That or this has been the longest slow-play in the history of sports.
Either way, the fight isn’t inked in stone yet. That’s what Mayweather said during the NBA All-Star Game, debunking an earlier report from the Guardian that the two sides had finally agreed to fight on May 2.
At this point, it’s become really confusing on who to believe anymore. One side says the fight’s close; the other side says there are still a lot of negotiations left. Whichever side you believe, one inexplicable truth has come out of this whole sage: it’s pretty exhausting waiting for the fight to happen.
Logic—or is it skepticism?—dictates that we shouldn’t get our hopes up. Not after seeing the same song and dance over and over again, only for talks to go up in flames. We’re like that child who keeps waiting on his separated parents to reconcile, only we’ve become disenchanted with them taking so long to smooth out their differences that we don’t even know if we want to see them together anymore.
That’s where I am right now, although I have to admit that there’s still a significant population that still cling to that silver thread of hope that the fight will somehow be made.
There are also those who haven’t paid enough attention to the negotiations that they’re already placing bets on the fight. Yup. Only the possibility of a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight will bettors actually line up to place bets on the fight even though said fight hasn’t been agreed to yet.
But turns out, a lot of bettors don’t care about that particularly important detail. Oddsmakers are on that same boat, having already released odds on the fight with Mayweather opening as the 1/4 favorite compared to Paquiao being the 5/2 underdog.
Not surprisingly, a lot of bettors are taking Pacquiao and it’s not even close. The disparity in the betting action has even prompted some sportsbooks to adjust the odds with Floyd now getting 2/5 odds with Pacquiao now sitting at 2/1 odds.
I say not surprising because this is a common pattern on boxing fights, especially those which the public deems has a live underdog. Once the fight draws closer – if it ever does – sharps pounce on getting the best possible odds on the favorite. With the way things are going, there’s a likely scenario that Pacquiao gets a significant amount of the public money that Mayweather’s odds could be closer to even odds than at any other fight he’s had since beating Oscar Dela Hoya in May 2007.
None of it will matter though if the fight isn’t made. So as we wait aimlessly and helplessly for the announcement of the fight, let’s hope that both sides finally agree to do it. It’s been too long.
