By Gabe Farias, San Antonio Express
After watching Manny Pacquiao's brilliant performance over Joshua Clottey this past weekend, there is little doubt that the Filipino boxing superstar is the greatest fighter we have today. He could very well be the best of all time.
He has captured world boxing titles in seven different weight classifications against the very best the sport has had to offer. From Oscar De la Hoya to Marco Antonio Barrera to Eric Morales to Miguel Cotto - Pacquiao has conquered the pugilistic world's best.
There is only one fighter Pacquiao needs to face before he hangs his gloves up – Floyd Mayweather Jr.
Mayweather of course proclaims himself the greatest in the sport. His impressive list of conquered opponents earns the fighter a tremendous amount of consideration as one of boxing's great fighters.
Mayweather has a huge challenge ahead of him when he steps into the ring against future hall of fame fighter Sugar Shane Mosley in early May.
It is a fight he should win and you would think that victory would set up the biggest fight the sport will have seen since Mohammad Ali was in his prime.
Mayweather made some very bold and unconfirmed allegations of performance enhancing drug use by Pacquiao. The two were narrowly close to meeting with the holdup being the rigorous blood testing Mayweather demanded of Pacquiao.
If there was any fan backlash against Pacquiao after the ludicrous claim, it most certainly did not show in his fight with Clottey. More than 50,000 mostly pro Pacquiao fans were in attendance at Dallas Cowboys Stadium - the third largest domestic boxing crowd ever.
To me, it seems that Pacquiao does not need Mayweather. If the fight does not happen he still goes down as the greatest modern day warrior ever.
Mayweather and his giant ego and even bigger spending habits need for the Pacquiao fight to happen. He would earn upwards of $30 million for the fight. A victory over Pacquiao and the roles completely reverse and Mayweather would go down as the greatest.
I believe that Mayweather will not give on the blood testing issue and use that as an excuse to avoid the most certain Pacquiao beating he will endure.
Pacquiao is a much stronger fighter than Mayweather.
This is Pacquiao's last real challenge. How great would it be to watch the single greatest fighter of our time knock out the self proclaim greatest of all time? Don't hold your breath.
Source: mysanantonio.com
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