Pacquiao-Mayweather spells a new dawn for boxing

Will Batchelor

Manny Pacquiao’s prospective fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr could help restore professional boxing’s credibility. Al Bello / Getty Images

I have not been this excited in mid-December since 1987, when the prospect of a Sony Walkman from Father Christmas flushed my cheeks.

Nowadays – thanks to some hard-living and the need to climb stairs at least twice a day – my cheeks are permanently red, whether I am excited or not.

So you will just have to take my word for it: I am really excited about the Pacquiao-Mayweather fight.

I know you believe me, because you are excited too.

Like me, you know it is a once-in-a-generation thing for two such magnificent fighters to hit their prime at the same time.

Like me, you cannot honestly predict who would win – Pac Man’s devastating precision or Pretty Boy’s silky defence.

Like me, you cannot resist the potential personality clash between the quiet nobility of Manny Pacquiao and the brash swagger of Floyd Mayweather Jr.

One man raised in poverty who plans to use his boxing fame to enter politics and make a difference.

The other a brat from a sporting dynasty, whose alternative nickname of Money signals his cruder ambitions.

Like me, you know this could be the fight to restore professional boxing’s credibility – or at least start the process of rehabilitation – after years of division, decline and a heavyweight scene dominated by plodding Neanderthals.