By Ashley Gibson: It’s fair to say that boxing’s welterweight division is a talent filled pool of superstars and hot new exciting prospects. However the two men massively leading the race for welterweight and pound for pound supremacy are undefeated WBC welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather (42-0-0) and the seemingly unstoppable Manny Pacquiao (54-3-2). Both have upcoming fights against two different types of opposition.

Floyd Mayweather has chosen to take on the current WBA junior middleweight champion Miguel Cotto, who, not too long ago, was beaten in the most convincing fashion by the pacman. This choice of opponent sparked the debate of, are Mayweather and Pacquiao fighting the same fighters to see how convincingly they can beat their opponent and compare it to the others performance? To some extent I believe that could be the case, with both men sharing victories over, ring veteran ‘sugar’ Shane Mosley, Mexico’s Juan Manuel Marquez and former pound for pound superstar, the ‘ Golden Boy’ Oscar De La Hoya.

It seemed that both men were focused on climbing the weights and conquering them in impressive fashion. Pacquiao began to fight bigger, stronger welterweights like Joshua Clottey and junior middleweight Antonio Margarito, whilst Mayweather showed that there is no such thing as ring rust, returning from a lengthy lay off and knocking out hard hitting southpaw ‘Vicious’ Victor Ortiz to capture the WBC welterweight crown. So, establishing that both men have had tremendous success at welterweight and have both fought and won against top opposition in the junior middleweight division, why is it that Manny Pacquiao Has decided to take a step back and challenge unbeaten WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley? Very few people want to see this fight because there is not a great deal Bradley brings to the table. He is not known for power or counter punching but more of a talented skilfull brawler who likes to fight on the inside and rough his opponents up. Not the tactical skill set required to deal with an eight division world champion who punishes jr middleweights. This fight will keep money in both promoter Bob Arums pocket and ‘The Pacman’s.

WBC champion however, Floyd Mayweather, has blasted all his critics and moved up in weight to fight for Cotto’s WBA jr middleweight strap. A win for Mayweather will prove that the allegations of hand picked fighters is nothing but a vicious rumour as anything Pacman can do Floyd can do too. With a win for mayweather it opens more doors to jr middleweight Champion Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez who looked to be a likely opponent earlier in the year and king of the division Sergio Martinez. However a Mayweather Pacman fight would be more desired than any other future fights that may be offered to Floyd Mayweather.

So if both fighters have conquered multiple weight divisions and beaten the best in equally convincing styles, why is it that the urge of being boxing’s Alfa male has not drawn the two best pound for pound fighters on the planet into the ring? Is it because they feel they have more to prove? Is it because they are strategically hyping up the biggest boxing PPV of the generation? Or is it simply the fear of one of these fighters are afraid of blemishing their brilliant legacy by losing to the other?

I believe that Manny Pacquiao’s promoter is the reason the world has been denied this once in a life time clash and it is clear to see why Bob Arum made such decisions. Both fighters have fought the same opponents as the other and the three most notable and vital are; Shane Mosley, Oscar De La Hoya and Juan Manuel Marquez.

We all know that Mayweather and Pacquiao are two completely different fighters, Floyd is the slick counter puncher with lightning fast reflexes and sniper accuracy. Pacquiao on the other had blinding hand speed, all out offence and a punching outlet that may only be matched by Paul Williams.

However, Pacquiao did not shine against Marquez and Mosley, he was out boxed and constantly countered from Marquez and his work rate almost grounded to a halt against the welterweight veteran. Yes he dominated De La Hoya, but his encounters with Marquez and Mosley are much more recent and one can’t deny that Pacman seems to be on the descent. Lower punching outputs and struggling to get a foot hold into the Marquez fight, we may be seeing the gradual fading process of a great fighter in Pacquiao just as we watched Jones Jr and Mohammed Ali’s careers take brutal endings.

One the other hand Floyd Mayweather has never faced an opponent that he has not been able to execute his assassin like game plan against. Yes Pacquiao’s demolition of ‘The Golden Boy’ was a lot more impressive than Mayweather’s twelve round split decision but look at how the WBC welterweight champion handled Marquez and Mosely. Where Pacquiao Vs Mosely is vastly regarded as the most disappointing PPV in recent years, Mayweather’s encounter with ‘Sugar’ Shane was worth every penny with both fighters putting on a tremendous display. Despite being rocked early, Mayweather punished Mosley with laser-like accuracy and looked to be on the verge of forcing a stoppage at one point. Pacquiao on the other hand barely got out of the gate!

The Marquez and Mayweather fight was a complete shut out. Dropping Marquez early and not giving Juan Manuel the chance to win a single round. Right hand leads and crisp left hooks left the Mexican Legend with no answers. One the other side we all know and love the Marquez Pacquiao wars of old and the third in the trilogy was supposed to be the one where Juan Manuel faded into his twilight years of boxing and Pacman emerged a better fighter than their last two meetings. However Marquez controlled the action from early on and didn’t give Pacquiao the room to land his one way body head straight combinations. Marquez certainly didn’t white wash Manny but definatley done enough to earn the ‘W’.

So, finally, that brings us to what happens when Pacquiao, who seems to be on the decline clashes with Mayweather who just keeps improving? The answer? Pacquiao doesn’t stand a chance. People say Mayweather can’t cope with high pressure fighters but he knocked out two of the best. At the time undefeated world champion Ricky Hatton attacked Mayweather from the opening bell before Mayweather eventually handed ‘The Hitman’ his first loss of his career via knockout. Former WBC champion, Victor Ortiz was, apparently, Mayweathers worst nightmare. Southpaw, bigger, stronger, aggressive and riding off the back of winning a world championship. Mayweather closed the show in the fourth round with a knockout which had the young champion on all fours watching his championship handed back to its former owner.

Pacquiao is like Ortiz, southpaw, strong, quick, and aggressive but has a ton or extra skill and talent. But, we have seen Pacman struggle against counter punchers like Marquez, and Mayweather taught Marquez the true meaning of counter punching in their encounter.

The truth is Floyd Mayweather is too clever to lose to somebody who thinks by throwing 100 punches a round will win a fight. Mayweather sets a pace and sticks to it, Pacquiao attempts to drown his opponents with punches so that all they can do is cover up and protect themselves. What happens when one of the best defensive fighters of the last century in Mayweather keeps coming back and landing at will. What happens when Mayweather takes away Manny’s only defensive tool, his offense? And what happens when Pacquiao shows Mayweather too much respect, like he did with Mosely, and ends up on the back end of a boxing lesson with no way out? What will Bob Arum do to take precautions and protect his money maker?

Ultimately, this fight will never happen. Pacquiao does not have the tools to deal with Mayweather’s perfect boxing ability or the courage to make boxing history, take a gamble and fight for his legacy. The sad thing is this decision impacts Mayweather’s career legacy and stops fight fans all over the world watching what would be a modern classic. It is a sad time in boxing when money rules over pride, dignity and courage. I, like every other boxing fan wait, and hope that this fight will one day take place because, let’s face it. Give me a reason why it shouldn’t.