By Chris Williams: Leonard Ellerbe, the CEO of Mayweather Promotions and the right hand man of Floyd Mayweather Jr, thinks that WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao has capitalized on Mayweather’s inactivity during much of the last three years.
Ellberbe believes that Mayweather’s time out of the ring has really helped Pacquiao become what he is today because of the absence of Mayweather.
Ellerbe said this to the Grand Rapids Press: “He’s [Pacquiao] the sole beneficiary of Floyd deciding to take a little time off.”
I hate to say it but I totally agree with Ellerbe. I think with Mayweather putting himself on the shelf for stretches of time after getting huge paydays in his fights against Ricky Hatton, Juan Manuel Marquez and Shane Mosley, it’s left Pacquiao as pretty much the only game in town.
If Mayweather has been fighting three to four times a year since 2008, he’d still likely be the main man in boxing, with Pacquiao firmly at the No.2 spot provided that Mayweather hadn’t fought and whipped him by now. Look at the kinds of fights that Mayweather has had since the Hatton win: Marquez and Mosley.
On top of that, Mayweather is about to add another scalp to his resume with an important win over World Boxing Council welterweight champion Victor Ortiz in September. Can you imagine the kinds of fights that a busy Mayweather could have taken against the likes of Miguel Cotto, Saul Alvarez, Sergio Martinez, Alfredo Angulo, Mike Jones and Paul Williams?
Mayweather would be huge right now if he had stayed active, and Pacquiao would be someone that you naturally see as a number #2 guy in boxing. You got to face it, Mayweather helped make Pacquiao what he is today by stepping away from boxing and allowing Pacquiao to take over while Mayweather has been absent.
Anyway, it’s good that Mayweather is back. He needs to take care of Ortiz, destroy Amir Khan and then get rid of Pacquiao by serving him up a nice little beating to take his WBO belt next year.
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