Pacquiao-Mayweather Match to Give Tremendous Boost for Boxing

The proposed Pacquiao-Mayweather boxing match is expected to give boxing a tremendous boost as both boxer's popularity surged after the Pacquiao-Cotto match last November 14 in Las Vegas where the Filipino boxer won via a 12th round TKO

While negotiations between the Mayweather and Pacquao camps are on-going, boxing fans, sportswriters and media people in general are doing their share to give boxing sports a shot in the arm. Boxing as part of the mainstream sports has become very popular when Muhammad Ali ruled the heavyweight division for many years. Many boxers in the heavy weigh division made a name of their own and a number became overnight millionaires. When Muhammad Ali retired due to Parkinson's, boxing suffered a tremendous decline in popularity. Second generation heavyweights that include Mike Tyson and Evander Holyfield tried to save the declining popularity of boxing. But after their retirement, boxing sports lost its luster. Some boxing stakeholders and promoters have thrown in their own white towels into the ring to signal their departure from the sports that they were part of for many years. One person that did not give up when the stakes were high was Bob Arum, owner of Top Rank Promotion. The lawyer turned boxing promoter stayed on despite the odds. His persistence in resurrecting the ailing sports of boxing paid off with the rise to stardom of US Olympian Oscar de la Hoya. With Oscar de la Hoya's rise to prominence, boxing fans have started to embrace their sports once again but this time the interest were focused on lower weight classes from welterweight down to the lower divisons.. In almost all fights in these divisions, two popular promotions companies including Top Rank of Bob Arum and Golden Boy of Oscar de la Hoya figured in promoting classic boxing matches that made names like, Pacquiao, Marquez, Morales. Barrera, Hatton, Mayweather,Mosley, Hopkins, Cotto, among others. The most recent fights of Pacquiao, de la Hoya, Hatton, Marquez, and Cotto have given the sports of boxing a tremendous boost in popularity signaling its return to its former glory when the heavyweight division ruled the sports at the turn of the century. Certainly, the proposed Pacquiao-Mayweather match will be a tremendous boost for the revival of boxing not only in the lower weight classes but also on the light to heavyweight divisions where popular matches have been noted lately including the rise to the popularity of British boxer David Haye who belong to the light-heavyweight division.