Op-Ed: Pacquiao vs Mayweather match may not happen

The boxing fight the world wants to see may not happen after all as undefeated American boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. ran out of excuses and finally avoided fighting Filipino boxing icon Manny Pacquiao. He plans to take a sabbatical from boxing.

In his recent statement while attending a charity gathering, Mayweather said he is taking one to two years off from professional boxing. The statement simply means he is not ready to face Manny Pacquiao inside the ring, not this year or two years from now. The world knows Pacquiao is retiring from professional boxing after his November fight as he announced earlier. His promoter Bob Arum is trying his very best to give the public a fight they want to see by working day and night to make the Pacquiao-Mayweather match happen. He thinks Pacquiao is good for a few more fights. The Filipino boxing icon has just been elected congressman in the Philippines and said he will have to say goodbye to boxing and concentrate on his newfound political career. Of course Mayweather has every right to do whatever he wants with regards to his own boxing career. Choosing to retire for the second time is clearly an option for him if he thinks it is good for his future career. But the undefeated boxer has created a firestorm in the boxing community by making unreasonable demands ranging from Olympic-style random blood and urine tests to his changing demand for a bigger share of the fight purse. At one point, tension soared between Pacquiao and Mayweather when the latter accused Pacquiao of taking steroids or performance enhancing drugs without presenting documented evidence to the allegations. The drug controversy led to the filing of court suit by Pacquiao against Mayweather and his team for defamation. The case is pending resolution in a US district court. Boxing fans say Mayweather is just trying to find a way to avoid a clash with Pacquiao in order to keep his unblemished professional boxing record. Now it is becoming clearer that Mayweather is really scared of and even afraid to face the Filipino boxer, otherwise he wouldn't take a leave while Pacquiao remains active in the sport. Well-informed boxing fans know that Mayweather loves money and limelight and speculations are high the undefeated boxer will again announce his return to professional boxing once Pacquiao finally retires for good. By doing so, the popular and controversial boxer will continue fighting less capable fighters in order to preserve his zero loss record. In the meantime, the fight the world wants to see may not happen this year or next and it may never happen at all.