Manny Pacquiao vs Floyd Mayweather Jr. Coming Soon?

The mega-fight boxing fans have been hoping for might finally happen in the summer of 2012: According to an ESPN report, Floyd Mayweather Jr. has scheduled a fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on May 5, 2012, and he might be looking to fight his biggest adversary in the pound-for-pound rankings, Manny Pacman Pacquiao.

We're looking to make the biggest fight possible and everyone knows what that fight is, the little fella, said Leonard Ellerbe, Mayweather's longtime advisor and CEO of Mayweather Promotions.

Ellerbe reiterated his remarks: Floyd made it very clear he wants to give the fans the biggest fights that are out there. He wants to stay active, Ellerbe said. We're going to do everything in our power to make the biggest fight out there for the fans and we all know what the fight is.

Mayweather's scheduled fight date is a little less than six months after Pacquiao's fight with reigning lightweight champion Juan Manuel Marquez, which will take place on November 12. Mayweather's fight is just under eight months from his previous fight with Victor Ortiz, which took place September 17.

Pacquiao has not made any public comments about Mayweather's scheduled fight and will likely refrain from doing until after his fight with Marquez. Pacquiao's fight with Marquez will be the third time the two meet in the center of the ring — the rubber match — after both fighters exchanged devastating blows in 24 brutal and hard-to-judge rounds.

In the first fight, Pacquiao knocked Marquez down three times with a flurry of punches only to have the Mexican fighter rise to his feet with a broken nose, survive the round and fight back to earn a draw. In the second fight, the two exchanged grueling shots for several rounds, but Marquez was knocked down in the third round, which proved to be the difference in the fight. Pacquiao won the second fight by split decision. The outcome of the fight determined by a single point on the judge's scorecards.

This will be the second boxing trilogy for Pacquiao, who has gone to war will several smaller fighters many times before in his career. Paquiao's first boxing trilogy was with Hall of Fame Mexican boxer, Erik Morales, who was, at the time, noted as one of the best fighters in the sport. Pacquiao won two of the three matches, and he has not lost since fighting Morales for the first time in 2005 — a fight he lost by decision.

Marquez represents the closest thing to a rival that Pacquiao has ever had. Many people that watched the first two fights believe Marquez won. Of course, Marquez believes he won too.

For Marquez, a smaller man who has already fought Mayweather and been beaten, this is his final opportunity to prove that he has the skills to beat Pacquiao. It's also an opportunity for him to disrupt what is being touted as potentially one of the biggest fights in boxing history. If Marquez is able to beat Pacquiao on November 12, it will cement his name as one of the greatest — and most resilient — Mexican boxers of all time.

If Pacquiao is able to beat Marquez, something many believe will happen because Marquez will move up in weight for the fight, then it seems apparent that Mayweather and Pacquiao will once again be on a collision course. Whether the two actually connect remains to be seen.

This isn't the first time the rumors about the potential mega-fight have been spread around the boxing media world. Fans of boxing have been begging for the two to fight since 2008, when Pacquiao first burst onto the scene as a welterweight (140-147 lbs.) after fighting all the way up from flyweight (108-112 lbs.). Some saw Pacquiao's speed as a threat for Mayweather before that point.

Negotiations between the two began in 2009, when Mayweather demanded that Olympic-style drug-testing, meaning that blood would be drawn from the boxers at random in preparation for their fight and blood could be drawn on the day of the fight. Pacquiao was initially resistant to such terms. Eventually, Pacquiao agreed to the drug-testing, but negotiations unraveled after a dispute about the distribution of profits that were to be made on the fight.

If the mega-fight does happen, Pacquiao vs Mayweather is anticipated to be the highest grossing fight of all-time, shattering the record currently held by Oscar De La Hoya vs Mayweather. The two fighters would expect to make $50 million up front in addition to pay-per-view sales which are also expected to reach record-breaking numbers.

The fight would be, undoubtedly, the most technical fight ever: In one corner would be the greatest offensive threat in the history of the sport, Manny Pacman Pacquaio, and, in the other corner would be the greatest defensive mastermind the sport has ever witnessed, a man that prides himself on never being cut, never being knocked down and having few marks on his face after a fight, Pretty Boy Floyd Money Mayweather Jr. If it happens, Pacquiao vs Mayweather will be the most monumental event the sport has seen since Holyfield vs Tyson. But first, Pacquiao needs to settle the score with Marquez.