By Allan Fox: Floyd Mayweather Jr. isn’t interested in facing Manny Pacquiao (60-7-2, 39 KOs) in a rematch, but he is willing to help him find an opponent to fight. Mayweather feels like he closed the chapter on his rivalry with Pacquiao in beating him by a 12 round unanimous decision in 2015, even though Pacquiao believes that he won.
After all this time, Mayweather still doesn’t want to fight Pacquiao a second time. He does, however, want to help Pacquiao find an opponent. Will that be one of Mayweather’s fighters from his Mayweather Promotions stable? It’s hard to imagine Pacquiao fighting super featherweight Gervonta Davis. But if Pacquiao is willing to fight lightweight Vasyl Lomachenko, then he might as well entertain a fight against Davis.
One guys that Mayweather would like to match Pacquiao against is former Top Rank fighter Mikey Garcia. However, Mikey has shown any interest in fighting Pacquiao. Mikey wants to get credit from the boxing public by facing IBF welterweight champion Errol Spence Jr. in December. He won’t receive credit by facing 39-year-old Pacquiao.
Mayweather isn’t going to come back to fight Pacquiao despite the money he could make fighting him a second time.
“I’ve been asked the question probably seven times, with one saying, ‘why are you scared to fight Pacquiao’ – like beating him once wasn’t good enough,” Mayweather said to Fighthype. “It is was it is and Pacquiao is a future hall of fame, [but] the best man won and I was the best man. Actually, I’m [going to] get on the phone with Pacquiao after this call see if we can put him in position. There’s a lot of good competition out there that he could fight.”
Pacquiao has to be matched against certain guys for him to do well. Pacquiao looked sensational in stopping the over-the-hill Lucas Matthysse in the 7th round on July 15 in Malaysia. But that was the type of opponent that Pacquiao can still beat. The guys that Pacquiao would be in trouble against are fighters like Errol Spence Jr., Terence Crawford, Lomachenko and Shawn Porter. Pacquiao can probably beat Danny Garcia and Mikey Garcia. Even Lomachenko would be vulnerable if he had to move up to welterweight to fight Pacquiao. Lomachenko has no interest in facing Pacquiao a 147. He wants him to drain down to lightweight to fight him. In that case, Pacquiao would be at the mercy of Lomachenko. It’s a great fight for Lomochenko and a terrible one for Pacquiao.
“If he still wants to go out there and make money, be victorious that’s his prerogative. You do whatever you want to do,” Mayweather said about Pacquiao. “Of course, he’s supposed to call the Mayweather name…When you call the Mayweather name out, I mean, you speaking dollars,” Mayweather said.
I’m not too sure how much Mayweather can help Pacquiao find an opponent. There’s no market for Pacquiao vs. Ashley Theophane. If Mayweather wants to match Pacquiao against one of his fighters in his Mayweather Promotions stable, it could be a real disappointment to the boxing public. All the guys that Mayweather would send Pacquiao’s way would be a waste of his and the boxing public’s time.