Mayweather dodges Pacquiao rematch question

By Boxing News - 09/11/2015 - Comments

Image: Mayweather dodges Pacquiao rematch question(Photo credit: Esther Lin/Showtime) By Allan Fox: At today’s weigh-in, in Las Vegas, Nevada, Floyd Mayweather Jr. dodged a question asked of him by Showtime about whether he’d be interested in a rematch with former eight division world champion Manny Pacquiao.

It was an obvious question that many boxing fans wanted to know given the IV drip scandal that surfaced this week about Mayweather. However, Mayweather told Showtime that he’s only willing to fight Showtime fighters. Pacquiao is with HBO, and that apparently is reason enough for Mayweather not to want to fight him again.

Mayweather: “Since Pacquiao didn’t give the fans a good fight, tomorrow is going to be a great fight.”

Showtime interviewer Jim Gray: “Floyd, Pacquiao’s demanding a rematch. Your thoughts?”

Mayweather: “I’m a Showtime fighter. I only focus on Showtime fights.”

It’s impossible to understand how Mayweather would want to ignore a fight against Manny Pacquiao, especially with the money that he made last time. Mayweather would up with a $300 million payday against Pacquiao last May. A rematch would likely bring Mayweather anywhere from $100-200 million. For Mayweather’s fight against Andre Berto on Saturday, he’ll be getting a steep pay cut from the money he had against Pacquiao. Mayweather will be getting a guarantee of $32 million for the fight.

It stands to reason that if Mayweather really believes that he can beat Pacquiao a second time, he should take the fight to appease the fans and to give Pacquiao a chance to redeem himself after having suffered a shoulder injury in their previous fight.

Mayweather could be retiring with a huge pay day against Pacquiao if he chose to return to the ring in 2016 to fight him in May. I think it would be in Mayweather’s best interest for him to do so because the IV scandal has a lot of people really unhappy in particular Pacquiao, Michael Koncz and Bob Arum. They don’t like the way the USADA handled the situation.

Berto is seen as the sacrificial lamb being brought in to be slaughtered by Mayweather. While Berto is technically the WBA interim welterweight champion, he’s more like a bottom 15 contender, possibly even lower than that. He’s definitely not a fighter that rates being ranked No.1 by the WBA, as he’s clearly not better than the fighters ranked below him like Marcos Maidana, Amir Khan, Shawn Porter, Errol Spence, Robert Guerrero, and Sadam Ali. The WBA has given Mayweather cover to take Berto as an opponent with them ranking him at No.1 in their divisional rankings.



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