By Simon Sheppard:

Pacquiao product endorsements…why not me, Floyd?
First about the endorsements. Pacquiao gets the juicier endorsements than Mayweather, but who’s fault is that? Floyd Mayweather built this thug persona to mostly sell and hype his fights and yeah, it sure did sell his fights. As a matter of fact, most fans who go to his fights, go just to see his smug face ko’d. It worked on his fights, but on a grander scale, like in life, it simply didn’t. An Asian, not even an Asian-American endorsing American products. Floyd must have kept asking, why him?; why not me, I’m 100% American! To vent out his anger, he spews out racist rants on Youtube against Pacquiao. Then he keeps on crying about why he is not given his “fair shakes”. Is it that hard to answer his question?

Sourgrapes
What riles Mayweather is that he spent all his life and practiced his profession in America while Pacquiao spent half his career halfway around the world. Suddenly this kid shows up in the neighborhood, then sports writers started embracing him, commentators and analyst lauding praises about him, awards here and there. So with bitter anger he lashes out at Pacquiao with accusations of drug use, of which were all started by Floyd Sr. by the way, right after the Pacquiao-Hatton fight. Another fact is that Floyd could not believe that a fighter could be THAT good. So Floyd keeps saying that Puerto Ricans support their fighters, Mexicans support their fighters, why wouldn’t America support him? Now, how many times do I have to answer that question Floyd?

The bigger name…really?
Yes, maybe Mayweather is the bigger name in the US, but sadly for Floyd, in the wider world stage, Pacquiao is bigger. Pacquiao is revered in China, Singapore, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia etc. He was on the cover of Time Magazine.

When Pacquiao quietly stayed in Australia for a vacation, one writer from the Sydney Morning Herald jokingly asked if the symbol on Harbor bridge should be changed into an “M” or a gigantic fist. In Europe, he was on the front page of the sports section of an Italian newspaper Il Messaggero, titled “Il Morso dell Pacman” (the bite of the Pacman). There was a BBC Sports coverage on him, but maybe, just maybe, in Britain, Floyd has the small edge, but Britain is not Europe. A Romanian boxing magazine has The Asian Devil (Pacquiao) photo on their cover. In Ukraine where boxing was put on the spotlight by the Klitschko’s, there was an article on the 24UA ( in Russian) dedicated to Pacquiao telling the story of his humble beginnings to his current greatness. Pacquiao was even featured on the front page of the sports section of the NY times, comparing him to Bruce Lee. Pacquiao is one of the most recognizable sports figures in the world, even topping Tiger Woods in a recent Yahoo! search poll. So, now you know.

Floyd earns more…in the past maybe.
As for income, remember that Pacquiao’s earnings are multiplied almost 50 times in his country. One million is almost 50 million in his country. He is one of the wealthiest man in his native country, and as a matter of fact, he has his own well-equipped private army. Not just bodyguards, mind you, but literally a small-knit hand-picked elite fighting force. What needs to be understood is that Floyd is money savvy, while Pacquiao is not. Pacquiao used to sleep on cardboards on sidewalks selling cigarettes, so all this wealth is overwhelming to him. This is surely the reason he is in hot waters in his country for discrepancies in some financial statements. It is a fact that there are many leeches in Pacquiao’s life. But Pacquiao doesn’t seem to mind, his simple solution is basically, 1 multiplied by 50. Pardon the pun.

I’m the greatest in any era…aw, c’mon, Floyd.
In his misguided concept of things, Floyd keeps comparing himself to the greats of the sports in tha past. Even comparing himself to Muhammad Ali. What he doesn’t realize is that Ali had charisma. The way Ali makes faces, taunting his opponents, the way Ali suddenly breaks into a song and dance, spews out rhymes, Ali was a different person altogether. He revolutionized the sports with his method of fighting. He redefined the sports of boxing into an art. What many people didn’t know is that Ali is really a very, very intelligent person. Look up his quotes through the years. They will amaze you. The moment he changed his name from Cassius Clay to Muhammad Ali, he showed the world that he STOOD for something. He put it even further by going to prison for refusing to fight a senseless war, of which eventually the US lost and he was redeemed, his acts justified in the ensuing years, and consequently, respected more for his actions. Considering the fact that racism was still a prevalent fact of life in those times, what Ali achieved was more than impressive. And elsewhere all over the world Ali was loved. Ali transcended the sports. And he wasn’t seen as a thug. Maybe hatred for his arrogance and his comical antics but not for beating up women. See the HUGE difference? Greatness is being the definition of that word – in and out of the ring.

We’re in the game to win…yeah, right Floyd.
In other words, Floyd will not face fighters he knows he’s bound to lose. When Cotto was at his prime, he said he will not fight Cotto because Cotto doesn’t have a fanbase, as if the whole of Puerto Rico is not enough. He refused to face Margarito, even when Margarito himself walked up to Floyd’s face and told him point blank, that Antonio wanted to fight him. Floyd said some mumbo jumbo about being a businessman first. What? He was just offered a guaranteed 8M at the time. Yes sure, he ended up fighting dela Hoya, consequently earning more, and Margarito was eventually found out to be cheating, but that’s beside the point. Floyd just threw out 8M dollars down the drain for, like he said – “an easy fight”. What happened to the “if it don’t make dollars, it don’t make no sense? Oh ok, sorry I forgot, Floyd is businessman, and like a smart businessman, he wouldn’t
invest in a losing venture. Ok, I get it. That’s really smart of Floyd.

Skills pay the bills…heart, chin and mindset too, Floyd.
Floyd’s defensive skills are maybe the best of this era, with that I concur. Many say that Pacquiao will be an easy fight for Floyd. But maybe he sees something in Pacquiao that most us don’t. Since boxing is 80% brain and just 20% brawn, Floyd’s mind tells him something else. He keeps saying, he’s not afraid of anybody, then goes into a paradox of himself saying his health comes first. Ok, I understand the health bit, but not being afraid? He’s not really afraid of Pacquiao, per se. It’s being afraid of humiliation. He raised so much expectations from his fans. He put himself into this pedestal of invincibility that if he fails, he will come crashing down. And it will be a hard fall. You may have all the skills a fighter can humanly possess, but without the confidence and the mindset to use those skills, they all amount to diddly squat. And that is the root of this fight not being made. Floyd Mayweather Jr. does not feel confident enough to beat Pacquiao. Besides that, he feels the real threat of losing his prime selling point. For without that “0”, who is Floyd Mayweather? Remembered by some, forgotten by most. Oh sure, yes, he can retire undefeated, like Sven Ottke, Ricardo Lopez and Ji Won Kim, etc,…you may ask, Ji Won who?

EXACTLY.