Mayweather-Maidana 2 press conference dominated by Pacquiao questions

By Gavin Duthie - 07/21/2014 - Comments

_DSC7673(Photo credit: Idris Erba) By Gav Duthie: Floyd Mayweather Jr 46-0 (26) should have detected a hint of indifference at his rematch with Marcos Maidana 35-3 (31) by the worlds media as questions of Manny Pacquiao dominated his press conference. When asked about the Filipino he responded:

“Don’t talk to me about that [expletive]. That [expletive] still got [Juan Manuel] Marquez problems”.

Mayweather’s answer can be construed one of two ways. 

(1) He wants a Pacquiao clean slate before he fights him

This fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao has been on the cards for about 5 years since Pacquiao defeated Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton and then Miguel Cotto. To be fair the fight has been unmarketable from a financial point of view since June 2012 when Bradley beat the Filipino. Pacquaio’s demise seemed complete when Mexican rival Juan Manuel Marquez knocked him out in 6 rounds. This made the fight unfeasible in 2013 and a rebuilding job essential for Pacquiao’s reputation. He shut out the dangerous Brandon Rios and then avenged his controversial defeat to Bradley with a solid performance. He fights Algieri next but to wipe the slate clean does he need to avenge the Marquez defeat? It is arguable that Mayweather thinks he needs to beat the Mexican to make the fight as big as it would have been in 2010 and to maximize revenue through PPV and complete his legacy.

(2) Mayweather wants Pacquiao to lose again so he won’t need to fight him

Mayweather critics will say comments like this is just another way of avoiding Pacquiao. When Manny decided to resign with Top Rank one could argue that he doesn’t want Mayweather but lets consider Floyd’s comments from a similar viewpoint. He knows Pacquiao struggles with Marquez. Its fair to say Manny is probably slightly on the decline and he has never comprehensively beaten Marquez in four fights and 42 rounds (except maybe round 1, fight 1). If Pacquiao gets past Algieri and has to fight Marquez to get a fight with Floyd then this would probably rule out next May. If Marquez takes the fight and wins again which is entirely possible then the questions about from the media will stop. 

Until one or both retire its all just speculation as to who doesn’t want to fight who. Personally I don’t think Pacquiao should be held to ransom over Marquez. Its true that Floyd beat Marquez convincingly but Pacquiao could easily say his wins over Ricky Hatton, Oscar De La Hoya and Miguel Cotto were much more impressive. I’m getting tired of all this back and forth complaining and I’m beyond tired of fights between Pacquiao and Marquez. They’ve already fought four times and Pacquiao has two official wins. Lets just leave it at that and if Mayweather gets past Maidana and Pacquiao beats Algieri then they can fight in May 2015. I hope!



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