Mayweather vs. Pacquiao
Floyd Mayweather Jr. recently won in a controversial 4th round knockout against Victor Ortiz. This retained the title for Mayweather and continued his undefeated streak. Mayweather, being the best in his class and consistently showing that he has no contenders, is now being faced with a question no one has been able to get the answer to. That is, when will Mayweather fight Manny Pacquiao. Pacquiao is a one of a kind boxer, with the talent to compete in any weight class, as he has done in previous fights. It is said to be a fight that would break any kind of record in revenue for both parties and would be one for the history books.
This fight was originally planned to take place in 2010, but due to a drop out by Mayweather (and other controversies), the fight was cancelled. Now in 2011, Mayweather is faced with this decision once again. Since Pacquiao previously agreed to the fight in 2010, it is safe to assume that Mayweather knows Pacquiao’s initial move, which is to fight. With this assumption, Mayweather has to play a game within himself.
Mayweather simply has two options: to fight or to not fight. Within those options are two payoffs each. If Mayweather chooses to fight, he will earn a substantial amount of income but he has the risk of losing, thus being defeated. Mayweather could chose to not fight, maintaining his undefeated streak while at the same time losing his legitimacy as a boxer. Knowing the moves of Pacquiao, Mayweather has to decide which payoff is more important which will be interesting to see.
The article by T.M. of the Economist comparing Mayweather’s choices can be found here:
http://www.economist.com/blogs/gametheory/2011/09/boxing%E2%80%99s-two-titans