By Raj Parmar: Pound for pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr (46-0, 26 KO’s) has responded to Amir Khan’s (29-3, 19 KO’s) comments regarding about how he thinks he would fare against Floyd and Manny Pacquiao (56-5-2, 38 KO’s). Khan had recently stated that he feels Manny would provide a tougher challenge for him than Floyd. His complete quote is below:
“Boxing is all about timing and Manny and Floyd are getting older. Someone has to take their place. Mayweather would be a very technical fight, like a game of chess. But I think Manny would be harder. He’s much more aggressive and it would be more intense,” Khan had said to the guardian.com.
Mayweather has caught wind of the comments is not at all amused. Khan has been angling for a Mayweather showdown for the past couple of years now but the potential fight has not come to fruition as of yet. Floyd has acknowledged that the matchup between him and the fast handed Brit may still occur down the line while also expressing his distaste for Khan’s comments.
“He (Khan) is an exciting young fighter – but I don’t just fight anybody – they have to prove themselves,” Floyd stated to the dailymail.co.uk, “If you ask me will the fight happen – then I would say yes. I hope next year – but these fights are always about timing. I saw the comments where he thought Manny would give him a tougher fight than me. I have no response to that. I will just remind him of those comments after I have beaten him.”
Based on his response, it seems clear that Amir’s comparison between Floyd and Manny has hit a sore spot with Floyd. After Manny’s knockout loss to Juan Manual Marquez, Floyd has truly felt that the constant debates between who is superior between the two should have been over; especially since he shut out Marquez when they fought. Boxing is about styles and a win over fighter A who happened to beat fighter B does and should not imply that you are proven superior to fighter B since you have not fought him, therefore the Marquez loss Pacquiao suffered does and should not alone imply that Floyd would be able to beat Manny and is superior to him in the ring just because he was able to dominate Marquez.
However there can be no dispute that Floyd has surpassed Manny in rank ever since their names became almost synonymous with one another from 2008 up to the Marquez-Pacquiao KO in 2012. Whereas the dispute as to who is number one pound for pound was a toss-up in those years, it is clear that Floyd is alone at the top of the list as of right now. Manny has received numerous accolades in his career including a “boxer of the decade” award that Floyd does not have (but feels he should have gotten), therefore any talk of Pacquiao being superior to him now at a time where he is the clear number one boxer in the world is definitely hitting a sore spot and may give Floyd some added fuel to step in the ring with Khan and show him how much he does not appreciate being talked down to in comparison to Pacquiao.
Comments are closed.