Long wait ages Mayweather-Pacquiao to perfection

This is a point that involves Floyd Mayweather Jr., so let’s not scrimp with any cheap wines. Think of a 1990 bottle of Cristal Brut, which goes for about $18,000, or about how much Mayweather probably considers acceptable pocket change for taking in a movie.

Cristal is a wine that keeps well and can be conserved over two decades without losing its freshness and character. It’s usually aged six years in a cellar. Maybe that’s where they’ve stashed Al Haymon.

But not all wines can and are made to age.

The same can be said for most fights.

Not this one, though. Not in the manner many believed.

Six years later, the full wonder and taste and chemistry of Mayweather against Manny Pacquiao has discovered its perfect moment to emerge.

I disagree with the notion that there is no suspense in inevitability, that because Mayweather and Pacquiao didn’t step into a ring and oppose each other years ago means all the tension and excitement from the moment has disappeared.

It just made people angry and bitter, is all.

Sort of like when Mayweather flaunts his money.

But the drama and incessant teasing from both sides only heightened the anticipation of those boxing fans who undoubtedly will set pay-per-view records Saturday and helped purchase in less than a minute what few public tickets were made available.

Through it all — the bickering about drug tests and purse splits and how each syllable of the promotion would be handled — Mayweather and Pacquiao became bigger stars and the mere suggestion of the fight finally being made only intensified the hunger for it.

Not to mention the dollar signs.

Mayweather said he thinks he could make $200 million off the fight; Pacquiao will get at least $80 million and perhaps much more.

“(Six years ago), this was a $50 million fight for me and a $20 million fight for him,” Mayweather said. “Everything is thought about. I think about everything. I just don’t make a move. It’s like, ‘Floyd, this fighter is not in your range, so why shoot at him?’

“Why waste unnecessary energy? When he is in range, then you shoot.”

Along the way, some lost interest and cast their eyes elsewhere, many to the world of mixed martial arts. But if those who swore off ever being interested in this fight haven’t all come back now, a majority have.

It’s true that everything about this fight is bigger now than it would have been in 2009. Bigger crowds. Bigger global interest. Bigger paychecks. Bigger gate. A (much) bigger presence across social media.

“People will look back on this and say, ‘Hey, you guys could have done this without this much trouble and a lot earlier,’ ” Top Rank chairman Bob Arum said. “You know, it’s hard for me to envision that had we done this fight six years ago, it would have been as big. But that’s happenstance. That’s nothing anyone should take credit for.”

Someone will, of course. It’s boxing.

Crazy. The one area you would imagine ranks as most significant — the quality of fighters we will see Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden as opposed to six years ago — has become a secondary storyline to the massive circus the event has become.

Mayweather is 38, and while a zero on his record that includes 47 wins remains an intimidating symbol of excellence, Father Time has a way of slowing the reactions and legs of even the most dynamic of athletes. Pacquiao is 36 and 3-2 in his past five fights, but one of those losses (against Timothy Bradley in 2012) included a few judges who may or may not have been under the influence of hallucinogens given their scorecards.

So maybe it doesn’t or can’t offer the action today that it might have six years ago. Maybe all those miles collected on the bodies of Mayweather and Pacquiao produce a lesser product now.

I’m not sure it matters.

The circus is that nuts.

“All great fights happen sooner or later,” said Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s trainer. “Right now, it’s the perfect time for this fight.

“Everywhere I have traveled the last six years, all I have been asked is about is this fight. It would slow down some, but then come right back. I would be asked at every restaurant I go into, because I eat out a lot. I can’t cook. It feels like I have been asked about it my entire life.”

Wine is an extraordinary thing. It not only can survive, but its quality can improve with age. It is said that while there might not be good old vintages, there are good old bottles.

Mayweather-Pacquiao might not prove to be that Cristal Brut from 1990 when the bell rings, but it’s full of wonder and taste and chemistry. It could be a really good old bottle.

Compared to today, six years ago would have fallen flat.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. His new show, “Seat and Ed,” debuts May 4 on KRLV 1340 and will be heard from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.