Is it too late for the fight the world wants to see?

Floyd Mayweather Jnr against Manny Pacquiao is the fight all boxing fans want to see.

The fight would finally end the debate over who is the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world, and possibly ever.

But as the months go by, and both Mayweather and Pacquiao get older and further from their prime, the fight seems less and less likely to happen.

Mayweather recent knock-out victory over Victor Ortiz again propelled him to the top of the pound-for-pound rankings, with Pacquiao not fighting again until next month when he takes on Juan Manuel Marquez for the third time.

Reasons for the fight never being agreed tend to stem from the issue of drug testing. Mayweather has always stressed thorough drug testing before a fight, which Pacquiao has allegedly agreed to in the past.

However, the major stumbling block is thought to be which drug agency carries out the testing, with Mayweather adament that WADA (the world anti-doping agency) look after the tests, with the key aspect of WADA’s policy being random testing.

Yet, should Pacquiao agree to Mayweather’s demands with regards to drug testing, he would be unable to train in his home county (the Philippines) and have to train in the US in order to be available for WADA’s random testing.

When looking into the reasons why this fight has not happened and is no closer to happening, one factor stands out and that is Mayweather's stubornness. He will only agree to fights on his terms and will accept no less. This has been repeatedly shown in his ‘pick and choose’ attitude towards his fights in the past couple of years.

Notably in the past four years, Mayweather has fought just 4 times with his recent fight over Ortiz being his first fight in over 16 months. The ‘Pac Man’ in contrast has had eight fights in that time, not including his upcoming fight with Marquez.

But to be fair to Mayweather he has earnt the right to do as he pleases.

His career record of 42-0 speaks for itself.

Yet his controversial knock-out of Victor Ortiz as well as his post-fight argument with broadcaster Larry Merchant again highlights his ‘do what I want attitude’. Furthermore, there are even suggestions from those within boxing that Mayweather deliberately caused the heated exchange with Merchant to avoid inevitable questions over a possible bout with Pacquiao.

Mayweather would deny such claims and, when speaking in 2009, said the decision over whether a fight with Pacquiao would go ahead lay with the Filipino fighter.

"If Pacquiao wanted it, he could get it. Come on man, I don't have to say I want to fight Pacquiao. Floyd Mayweather is the face of boxing. All roads lead to Floyd Mayweather,” he said.

In addition, Mayweather was adamant that there would only be one outcome if the fight were to go ahead.

“Can Manny Pacquiao beat me? Absolutely not. Easy work, easy fight.

I don't see no versatility in Manny Pacquiao. I see just a fighter, you know, a good puncher, but just one dimension."

Former welterweight and light welterweight world champion Ricky Hatton fought, and lost, to both Mayweather and Pacquiao and believes that should the fight ever happen Mayweather would prevail.

"Floyd has the style and shuts up shop so you can't nail him," Hatton said. "He is so good he doesn't let you get any punches off. If he makes Pacquiao miss he'll take the sting out of him."
Nevertheless, the now retired Hatton is a fan of Pacquiao.

"I'd rather watch Pacquiao. Mayweather will go down as one of the all-time greats but I wouldn't get up at 4 o'clock in the morning to watch him. He bores the shit out of me.”

Hatton’s point is reflected in Pacquiao superior knock-out percentage throughout his career. Pacqiuao has won 66% of his 58 professional fights by knock-out which compares favourably to Mayweather, who has won 62% of his 42 fights in the same fashion. Indeed five of Mayweather’s last seven fights have gone the distance.

Current WBC Light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins agrees with Hatton’s assessment of the fight.

"I think Floyd Mayweather would pot-shot Pacquiao and bust him up in between the four-to-five punches that Pacquiao throws and then set him up later on down the line."

However not everyone shares the views of Hopkins and Hatton, most noticeably Amir Khan with whom Pacqiuao spars with. Both have the same trainer – Freddie Roach.

Bolton-born Khan has seen both fighters close-up and believes Pacquiao's speed would be the decisive factor in any contest with Mayweather.

"I've trained with both of them, and I have to back my guy – my guy is Manny Pacquiao and I think he might take the fight with his speed.

A lot of people forget that speed is power. Manny throws a lot of punches with speed, whereas Mayweather is more a single-shot fighter. He's still quick, but I don't think single shots will keep Manny away from Mayweather, whereas I know combinations will push Mayweather back,” Khan explained.

Ironically however, the more likely fight for Mayweather appears to be against Khan himself who claimed this week that the American has agreed to fight him.

Should Khan successfully defend his WBA Super World light welterweight and IBF light welterweight titles against Lamont Peterson in Washington in December, a fight with the undefeated Mayweather would be next on the cards.

Unfortunately, as good as Khan vs Mayweather would be, it’s not the fight we were all hoping for.

Images from Action Images