Floyd Mayweather seems more open than ever to fighting Manny Pacquiao.
During his post-fight interview following his unanimous decision victory over Marcos Maidana Saturday night, Mayweather expressed interest in a fight with Pac-Man.
“If the Manny Pacquiao fight presents itself, let’s make it happen,” Mayweather told interviewer Jim Gray.
Mayweather cautioned that Pacquiao still has to beat Chris Algieri in November before they can discuss the once heavily-anticipated fight.
“Manny needs to focus on the guy that’s in front of him. Once he gets past that task we’ll see what the future holds.”
Beginning in late 2009, fans and the media were clamoring for a fight between the two boxers. Mawyeather was (and still is) undefeated, while Pac-Man had won 11 in a row and looked like an unstoppable machine. But the two never met — a number of reasons prevented a deal from being made (drug testing, Bob Arum, etc.) — and Manny went on to lose two fights in a row, decreasing fan interest in the bout.
However, Manny has won two in a row since his consecutive losses and once again looks like one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world and greatest challenger to Floyd. Pacquiao has been dying for a shot at Floyd because he needs the huge payday now that his drawing power decreased (and tax problems increased). Pacquiao’s promoter, Bob Arum, even said they would talk about such a fight.
Ultimately, a fight between Floyd and Manny comes down to whether Floyd will allow it. Floyd only books fights that he knows he can win. He is more protective of his perfect record than anything else in life. Would he put that in jeopardy by facing Manny? Will he choose Amir Khan next? Even though he’s teasing us, I can’t see him ever fighting Pac-Man.
To read the full history on the Mayweather-Pacquiao negotiations including why the fight has never happened, read this.
