By Philip Green: If recent internet clips are anything to go by, it appears that Floyd Mayweather Jr may decide to retire once again rather than lock horns with his Philippino nemesis and recently crowned ‘fighter of the year’ (Boxing Writers Association of America) Manny Pacquiao. While this is disappointing to hear, I am not surprised by the self-proclaimed ‘Greatest of all time’s’ decision to get out with his precious ‘0’ intact, given what I see as his history of cherry-picking and dodging opponents.
Bob Arum, CEO of Top Rank, says his superstar fighter Pacquiao is keen to fight Floyd and even willing to relent on the drug testing issue, which was the major sticking point during previous failed negotiations. According to Arum, ‘the ball is now in his (Mayweather’s) court’, but it would appear to most intelligent members of the boxing community that Floyd has once again lost his ball(s) and decided scuttle out the back door instead.
It was an impressive display against Shane Mosley to come back from almost being decapitated by a big right-hand in the second round. Floyd did well to retain his composure and dominate ‘Sugar’ throughout the remaining rounds. But did anybody seriously expect anything different? 38 year old Mosley had been inactive for 15 months and had already accumulated five defeats during the course of his career. That’s one more defeat than Oscar De La Hoya had when he faced Floyd.
All we seem to hear from ‘Money’ these days is his desire to ‘clean up boxing’, but I don’t recall him mentioning this once when he, rather than Pacquiao, topped the pound-for-pound rankings. It strikes me as a desperate attempt to discredit Manny’s achievement and provide a suitable alibi to avoid taking the fight. As far as respecting the rules are concerned, Floyd’s flagrant flouting of a 144 pound catch-weight agreement with Juan Manuel Marquez last year, coming in two pounds over the limit, tells you all you need to know about the sincerity of these statements.
Both Roger Mayweather and Floyd Senior have both publicly stated that they don’t like Floyd facing southpaws and after seeing how he struggled during the early rounds against Zab Judah in 2006 you can see why. A now much slower Floyd would be receiving that same kind of punishment for a full twelve rounds from a fighter who simply doesn’t tire. In comparison to Pacquiao, who has fought the likes of Barrera, Marquez, Morales, Diaz, De La Hoya, Hatton, Cotto, and Clottey to name a few, Mayweather’s achievements have been blown out of all proportions. It is easy to look good against smaller, older, or lower calibre opposition. I just hope for Floyd’s sake that he mans up and accepts the challenge the whole world is so desperate to see.
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