Manny Pacquiao vs Floyd Mayweather Fight? Stage Set for Fight of the Decade
"Stop blabbing."
This was the curt reply of Manny Pacquiao on Friday after Floyd Mayweather Jr. raised the possibility of a mega-fight with the Filipino boxing icon sometime next year following the American boxer's points' victory over Argentine challenger Marcos Maidana last Sept. 13 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas to retain his WBC and WBA welterweight titles.
Speaking to newsmen in Manila, the 35-year-old Pacquiao described Mayweather, 37, as "all talk."
"Until now he has not yet agreed to fight me. Instead of blabbing, he should face me atop the ring," Pacquiao said.
"I'm tired of his alibis. If he really wants to fight me, he knows how to reach me. We can fight anytime, anywhere," PacMan added.
Moments after beating Maidana, Mayweather for the first time in a long while raised the possibility of fighting Pacquiao.
"If the Pacquiao fight does happen, it has to happen on Showtime pay-per-view only and Mayweather Promotions have to do the fight," the still undefeated boxer said.
Mayweather added: "Manny needs to focus on the guy that's in front of him," referring to Chris Algieri whom Pacquiao will fight in Macau on Nov. 22.
"Once he gets past that task we'll see what the future holds," Mayweather said. "You saw what happened the last time with Marquez. Pacquiao wasn't focused, he was thinking too much about Floyd Mayweather and you saw what happened (Pacquiao was knocked out in six rounds)."
"At the moment I want to go home, have a break, spend some time with my children and then see who's next in May. Hopefully it's Manny Pacquiao," Mayweather said.
The two are considered as the best pound-for-pound fighters of modern boxing. They were close to a highly-anticipated bout in 2010 but negotiations broke down due to public spats between them.
Pacquiao said from his end there is nothing that is stopping the fight from going forward, adding that "the ball is in Floyd's court."
Commenting on Mayweather's last fight, PacMan said he was not impressed at all with the American boxer's performance. Pacquiao said he actually felt that Mayweather lost that fight and took much more punishment than Maidana did.
"To me, Maidana won that fight. Mayweather's face and lips were swelling compared to Maidana's unblemished face," Pacquiao said.
Analysts say money matters may finally force both fighters to finally make their fight happen. Pay per View numbers have been dipping as both Pacquiao and Mayweather have run out of quality opponents in the welterweight class.
Moreover, boxing in general has suffered in favor of mixed-martial arts.
Analysts said one epic battle between Pacquiao and Mayweather will give the sport a huge boost. The two also stand to earn an unprecented amount of money if they pursue their fight plans.