By Gareth A Davies, Telegraph.co.uk
Mainly because Pacquiao now has that pesky, mythical pound-for-pound title once bestowed upon Mayweather by every boxing pundit on the planet.
Only three fights in three years - Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Juan Manuel Marquez - and the cupboard is bare.
Mayweather is not a man who takes time out in the conventional sense. He lives and breathes boxing, walks around 2lbs over the welterweight limit, and, of late, appears to be a man obsessed with his greatest rival Pacquiao.
This week he has questioned Pacquiao's credentials to be considered 'great' as a prize fighter, while comparing his own skills as equal, if not better, than those of ring legends Muhammad Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson.
When, and if, the Mayweather-Pacquiao mega-fight finds itself back on again, it is going to be some promotion. The pair were slated to settle the issue of best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet in March this year, a mega-bout which could gross in the region of $200 million, yet it collapsed over disagreements from the two camps on a pre-fight drug testing procedure.
Mayweather clearly derides his own status as ‘the former pound-for-pound king’, and this week launched a diatribe questioning the Filipino’s stature among the boxing greats.
That said, the Boxing Writers Association of America recently selected Pacquiao, currently running for a congressional seat in the province of Sarangani in his homeland, as the ‘Fighter of the Decade’.
Pacquiao has drawn comparison with the late Henry Armstrong, who held world titles in three different divisions simultaneously.
Pacquiao stopped Cotto in the 12th round last November to win the World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title, his seventh world title in seven weight classes. Six months earlier, Pacquiao knocked out Hatton at light-welterweight in two brutal rounds. It had taken Mayweather 10 rounds to stop the British fighter in Dec 2007.
Mayweather questioned Pacquiao’s credentials, however, playing down his sensational victories over Cotto and Hatton, insisting his rival should comply with the notion of pre-fight drugs testing.
“He beat a Miguel Cotto who got pummeled with a cast (Cotto’s opponent Antonio Margarito was found to have plaster of paris in his wraps) and he beat a Ricky Hatton that got stretched by me… That’s not for me to put him in the Hall of Fame.
“Manny Pacquiao struggled twice against Juan Manuel Marquez, he got knocked out twice, he got outboxed by Erik Morales, but then they still give him Boxer of the Decade. I don’t understand…All I'm saying, if you're a clean athlete, take your test. Show the world, you know what, I'm a natural. Take the test, that's all I say.”
Mayweather, who is a brilliant defensive fighter, compared himself to Ali and Sugar Ray Robinson.
“I got respect for Sugar Ray Robinson. I've got respect for Muhammad Ali. But I'm a man just like they're men. I put on my pants just like they put on their pants. What makes them any better than I am? Because they fought a thousand fights? In my era, it's totally different,” said Mayweather, undefeated in 40 professional fights.
“It's pay-per-view now, so things change. It's out with the old and in with the new. Things change. Like I said, Muhammad Ali is one hell of a fighter. But Floyd Mayweather is the best. Sugar Ray Robinson is one hell of a fighter, but Floyd Mayweather is the best.
"You know, (promoter) Bob Arum always says that I can't draw flies. But the thing is, he's always trying to get his fighters to fight me. Every (major) fighter goes to fight Floyd Mayweather, for his biggest pay day. Work it out.”
Source: telegraph.co.uk
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