By Vivek Wallace

It has been reported by several sources, to include ESPN’s Dan Rafael that Top Rank Promoter Bob Arum has been given the green light from Team Mayweather to make official the now tentative date of March 13th, for the proposed showdown between himself and Filipino Manny Pacquiao. Despite head trainer Freddie Roach previously stating the he would “need more time than March to prepare Manny Pacquiao for Floyd Mayweather jr.”, few would expect Pacquiao to back out of the most lucrative showdown in the history of the sport. With a few t’s to cross and a few i’s to dot, word around camp is that the more technical issues have been resolved. That being said, this evening’s preliminary showdowns with Roy Jones Jr. and Bernard Hopkins squaring off on separate cards have even greater implications, for the simple fact that the tentative date slated for them to resolve their unfinished business is……well…..March 13th! I know that most fight fans have been yelling about weak undercards for the longest, but for those of us who thought that movie theater idea hit paydirt, if Goldenboy Promotions is up to what I hope they are, it’s time we vote these guys to the Presidential office.

So, wait a minute….let’s put a few pieces together here….We have Goldenboy Promotions….(check)…..Bernard Hopkins and Floyd Mayweather jr both fall within those ranks….(check)…..Both men in mega-fights slated for the same night……(check)….OK, we’re on to something, guys! Now, just a few weeks ago, Richard Schaefer of GBP stated that there’s no question Mayweather/Pacquiao would do well above 3M PPV buys, and in so many words made it clear that the public would have multiple reasons to want to tune in. Now, not once did he tip his hat to a potential card pairing 4 of the most intriguing figures to grace the sport in recent years, but with so much at stake and so many question marks, you don’t have to be a businessman to know that would have been a fools move, regardless, considering the prematurity of it all. So, now that the speculative position has been tossed out into the open air, lets take things a step further and actually assemble this puzzle. If indeed this speculative masterplan is thee masterplan, fight fans around the globe would be on the brink of a night for the ages. On the undercard, you’d have the ‘Executioner’ squaring off against a man most view has his official jury. The term ‘jury’ would be quite fitting for Jones, (as as it relates to Hopkins), because no other man in the sport has ever sentenced him to the backburner like Jones in a very decisive loss. This would not only serve as a potential legacy re-defining showdown, but also a swan-song for the two men, as they move beyond the ring and into the shadows, clearing the way for the main event, which would feature the two greatest pound-for-pound men of this particular era. read more