Floyd Mayweather — “Money” to his friends — never seems to stop belittling Manny Pacquiao. Mayweather — who was once considered the pound-for-pound best fighter in boxing — lost that unofficial title to Manny. Or, I should say, Manny unceremoniously ripped it out of Floyd’s hands and has never looked back.
Not content to let himself slide into obscurity, Floyd continues to call himself a “king”. And he reminds anyone and everyone who will listen that he commands the most ticket sales of any fighter in modern boxing, anytime he deigns to set foot in the ring.
However, it’s difficult to argue with Manny’s accomplishments. After all, he basically forced Oscar Dela Hoya and Ricky Hatton into retirement by winning decisive victories over both of these fighters, which is something Floyd wasn’t able to do when he fought them.
Floyd is certainly a special fighter. He’s world-class, and he makes other world-class fighters look like chumps.
Manny, on the other hand, has a ton of decisive victories, but many of these were against obscure fighters who are known only to boxing phanatics. His opponent list isn’t likely to be familiar to casual fans.
Floyd Mayweather seems content to bide his time and try to goad Manny into a fight on his (Floyd’s) terms. He obviously wants that p4p title back, but Manny’s not going to just hand it over.
After Manny’s easy victory over Miguel Cotto — a fighter whom some say Floyd was ducking — it’s hard to say that Manny settles for tune-up fights or second-rate opponents. When this battle between Floyd and Manny finally happens, it’s going to be Floyd who needs to come out and prove that he deserves to be in the ring with Manny, and not the other way around like most would have assumed only a few short years ago.
There is a ton of money to be made by all involved when this fight finally happens. But, more importantly for boxing purists, this fight will settle once and for all the p4p title. If Manny wins a victory over Floyd Mayweather, especially considering the fact that he is an undersized fighter who moved up in weight, it will be clear that he is not only the p4p best fighter in the world, but that he deserves to join the pantheon of great boxers of all time.