By Dan Ambrose: If there’s going to be a rematch between Floyd “Money” Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao next year in Mayweather’s 50th fight, it’s going to be Mayweather who decides on whether the fight takes place or not, says his father/trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr. He says that Pacquiao isn’t in control of anything after he was beaten soundly by Mayweather on May 2nd of this year.
As far as Floyd Sr. is concerned, Pacquiao is in the graveyard after the way he was beaten earlier this year by Mayweather in their “Fight of the Century” at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Floyd Sr. says Pacquiao was one of the easiest fights of Mayweather’s long 19-year pro career because of how over-matched he was.
“Pacquiao was one of Floyd’s easiest fights,” Floyd Sr. said to esnewsreporting. “They talking about a rematch. Rematch who? That’s all you do is hype. Hype him up, make believe he’s going to do something and everyone comes. Pacquiao don’t control nothing. He’s going to fight if Floyd wants him to fight. He can’t do nothing. He’s a dead man now in a grave.”
It seems very likely that if Mayweather chooses to come back next year to fight for his 50th win, he’s going to pick out Pacquiao in a rematch rather than facing the likes of Amir Khan, Keith Thurman, Shawn Porter, Danny Garcia or Adrien Broner. Pacquiao still brings the most to the table of anyone that Mayweather could potentially face, even though he was beaten already by him. There are still enough boxing fans interested in seeing Mayweather and Pacquiao do it again for the fight to be a huge money maker for Mayweather.
Mayweather could make big money against IBO/WBA middleweight champion Gennady “GGG” Golovkin too, but that doesn’t seem like a risk that Mayweather is willing to take due to Golovkin’s one-punch power, and his ability to cut off the ring. Mayweather fought a bigger fighter than Golovkin in the 175lb Saul “Canelo” Alvarez in 2013, but Canelo has slow feet, and he gave up his only advantage he had in terms of punching power when he made the foolish mistake of trying to box with Mayweather in the first eight rounds of the contest.
“Myself, I can’t say that Floyd is going to fight any more but I think he might fight again,” Floyd Sr. said about whether Mayweather will return to the ring next year in 2016. “If things are right for him and people are doing what they’re supposed to do, it’s more than likely he’s going to fight. That’s my belief.”
I think it’s pretty much a given that Mayweather will want to come back next year if only to scoop up another wheelbarrow full of cash and then depart the scene for a little while. As long as he’s able to make $80 million paydays fighting guys like Andre Berto, I see Mayweather sticking it out in the sport until that money dries up on him. Just when that will happen will be determined by the quality opposition he faces and whether he can stay unbeaten.
Believe me, if Mayweather keeps fighting guys in Berto’s class, he’s going to be soon getting diminishing returns with fewer a fewer boxing fans wanting to purchase his mismatches. Fans will put up with mismatches for a little while, but you can expect them to pay to see Mayweather destroy over-matched opposition year after year without them losing interest completely. That’s why it would have been better if Mayweather had taken a fight against Golovkin, Amir Khan, Keith Thurman, Shawn Porter or Danny Garcia for his September 12th fight. Mayweather has got to be likely losing millions of dollars by choosing to fight an opponent that few fans are interested in seeing him fight.
“I definitely think that it’s a record that needs to be broken,” Floyd said about Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 record he set in 1956. “I think Floyd can break it but I want to make sure he’s ready. When I say ready, I mean he feels good and is ready to go. You can’t be ready when you don’t feel good.”
Marciano’s record has already broken by Ricardo Lopez and Julio Cesar Chavez, but those two fighters did it by fighting a lot of weaker opposition compared to Mayweather. That’s why it’s important that if Mayweather wants to eclipse Marciano’s old record, he should do it by fighting superior opposition instead of record-padding opponents like Berto.
“I love everything my son has done in boxing,” Floyd Sr. said. “He controlled boxing. Boxing today is all about Floyd. He controls it right now today. Nobody else. Floyd controls boxing.”
Comments are closed.