Floyd’s previous bout with the veteran Shane Mosley took place over a year ago and was only his third outing since a controversial split decision victory over Oscar De La Hoya in 2007. Can we really believe the 34-year-old when he says he wants to face Pacquaio in the ring? Boxing has taken a back seat.
Are we witnessing a potential waste of a unique God-given talent?
When motivated and switched on, he is arguably the most mesmeric boxer many of us will ever see in the flesh. No opponent has ever found a way of really troubling Mayweather, who remains unbeaten as a professional. It all makes his reluctance to secure the marquee match-up infuriating.
The defensive, counter-punching, risk-free style the American has inherited from father Floyd senior and which has been fine-tuned by his uncle Roger, a former world champion, is slickness personified. No one can question the talent, ring acumen, speed and athletic ability вІ he has all that in spades.
Mayweather and his promoters will not sanction the fight unless Pacquiao bows to their will and agrees to stringent blood tests. Why Mayweather feels he is in a position to make extra demands is beyond most observers. There is not a shred of evidence in the public domain to suggest that Pacquiao has ever touched the banned human growth hormone, yet the mud-slinging continues.
Pacquiao has never failed a drug test and is happy to obey the doping rules as set out by the Nevada State Athletic Commission and world sport in general.
So often are the names of Mayweather and Pacquiao mentioned in tandem they could be mistaken for an American law firm. Unfortunately, a 2012 courtroom meeting seems more likely than a sporting face-off as Pacquiao has sued Mayweather and his camp for defamation after being repeatedly accused of using performance-enhancing drugs by the latter.
Fight fans, starved of top-quality, evenly matched world title bouts, are desperate to see the ultimate super fight. The cable television conglomerates and casinos are ready to bankroll it and sporting venues across the globe would love to play host. A team of Far Eastern tycoons are even rumoured to have offered the star duo $75m each to tangle in Singapore.
But KhanвІ s training compadre Pacquiao is the man who master trainer and tactician Roach really wants by his side, if he ever gets the chance to plot MayweatherвІ s demise
Khan’s astonishing progress since arriving at Freddie Roach’s Wild Card gym has not gone unnoticed Stateside. The 24-year-old Brit will secure a lucrative shot at Mayweather if he can defeat Kell Brook and Erik Morales in the next 12 months.
is being talked up as a potential Mayweather foe in 2012, after enhancing his burgeoning reputation on Saturday night with a near-flawless five-round demolition of accomplished New Yorker Zab Judah.
Boxing is littered with such rivalries. , and captivated audiences across the globe. The names , and still exhilarate those who saw them fight live.
True sporting legends need victories over other super-human rivals to define their extraordinary careers. Roger Federer’s epic tussles with Rafael Nadal have cemented both their places in the tennis history books.
If the man born and raised on the unforgiving streets of Grand Rapids, Michigan, retires without ever facing his nemesis, the Mayweather Wikipedia entry will for ever need an asterisk and a photograph of the man they call Pac-Man, and he will be remembered as a phenomenal talent, but no sparring partner for the likes of , or in the great gymnasium in the sky.
One man stands between Mayweather and the recognition he craves, Emmanuel Dapidran Pacquiao. But Floyd Mayweather needs more than the Filipino needs him, even if the flashy American can never admit it publicly.
A world champion at five different weights and unbeaten in 41 bouts, no fewer than nine different versions of world title belts hang on the walls of his ostentatious Las Vegas pile. Yet Pretty Boy Floyd’s legacy as a genuine hall of fame fighter is far from secure.
No man divides opinion in the sport of boxing quite like . Just the mention of his name can spark a bar brawl from Michigan to Manila and several stops in between.
Mayweather still needs Pacquiao for legacy
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