As we hover over the broken remains of another pipe dream, a "super fight" that at the moment looks nothing more than a mirage in the UAE desert, picking through the wreckage for signs of what went wrong is easy. We've been here before, after all. Several times, in fact.
Let us retrace our steps to see why the proposed bout between Manny Pacquiao and Amir Khan failed to materialise.
When the story first broke on February 12, via the Twitter account of Manny Pacquiao, that the Filipino would stage his next fight in the Emirates, it added much-needed substance to what his adviser Michael Koncz had told reporters in Abu Dhabi a day earlier, that a bout between his client and Jeff Horn would "100 per cent" take place in the UAE.
OK. Interest piqued. Let’s start to make our own enquiries.
Contact with Koncz was established and maintained several times via text message. Each time the question was asked: Will this fight definitely take place in the UAE? Each time the answer was an emphatic “yes.”
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Read more
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A prominent member of Khan's team involved in the negotiations to stage the fight here also confirmed on several occasions to The National that Dubai was the front-runner, with the caveat that the UK and US were still being considered too.
While many news outlets reported The Sevens ground in Dubai as the most likely venue, The National was shown detailed seating plans for another Dubai venue to stage the fight.
Pacquiao's Twitter account further fanned the flames by asking his followers who his next opponent in the UAE should be. The choice was between Amir Khan, Kell Brook, Terence Crawford and Kell Brook. Khan was the overwhelming winner with 48 per cent of the vote.
On February 26 both Pacquiao and Khan confirmed they had agreed terms to fight on April 23 – later revised to May 20 – with the UAE in the driving seat to stage the bout.
The checklist had plenty of boxes ticked. Prominent Pacquiao adviser confirming fight to be held here: check. Pacquiao twice referring to the UAE as his next destination: check. Fighters agreeing terms: check. Abu Dhabi Sports Council (ADSC) confirming they were aware of talks being held to stage the fight here: check.
There was just one problem. For all the hyperbole about the Emirates finally set to stage a world title fight – Pacquiao’s WBO Welterweight belt being on the line – one prominent voice had remained silent: Bob Arum.
If Pacquiao is boxing royalty, Arum is its deity. Any words spoken by a man who has promoted Muhammad Ali may as well be written down in boxing scripture. While The National has conducted several interviews with Arum in the past, touching base with the Top Rank chief executive proved elusive when it came to getting a response to the question we all needed an answer to: Is this fight going to take place in the UAE?
On February 21 Arum broke his silence, telling Australia's Courier Mail that Pacquiao was exploring the possibility of fighting in Dubai. Throughout every other subsequent interview, however, Arum voiced scepticism that anyone here would come up with the money.
Having had our fingers burnt before, our reportage was always tempered with doubt. That doubt was well founded with the news the fight is off – for now – as, surprisingly, their is no sign of the proposed US$38 million (Dh140m) that obviously turned Pacquiao’s head.
They say hindsight is a wonderful thing. But foresight is better. There is no suggestion there were not genuine attempts to hold the fight here, and no suggestion that the information given to us by Koncz or any other person was anything other than credible.
Throughout our coverage we expressed how an event of this magnitude would need the involvement of either ADSC or Dubai Sports Council, or both, and confirmation from Arum himself.
Our frustration is borne from years of broken promises, and the nagging sense that promoters and boxers pay lip service or try to use the UAE as a bargaining chip to secure a better deal elsewhere. And the fact that once again fight fans here will miss out on seeing two world-class pugilists take up the cudgels in the flesh, rather than at 7am on a working Sunday on a paid subscription TV channel.
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