Mayweather risks legacy by fleeing Pacquiao

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/05/2010 (6012 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Floyd (Money) Mayweather likes to ride on his street cred. He’s bad and all that, just ask anyone in his entourage he pays to spew such nonsense.

Right now, however, the street is speaking and punk is Mayweather’s newest handle.

Forget the fact Manny Pacquiao and his camp refused to meet Mayweather’s doping requests when their super fight fell apart last winter. The 33-year-old from Grand Rapids, Mich., is seen as the reluctant partner and not the man running for congress in the Philippines.

Late Saturday night following his lumping of Shane Mosley, Mayweather faced questions from HBO commentator Larry Merchant about setting a fight with Pacquiao and his response drew boos from a previously sedate Winnipeg pay-per-view crowd.

"If he wants to fight it’s not that hard to find me," Mayweather told Merchant. "We tried to fight before and it didn’t work, and we moved on. Mosley did what I asked him to do and if every athlete in the sport would do that, we know we would have a clean sport. Everyone should take the test. I am willing to take the tests. If Manny takes the test we can make the fight happen. If he doesn’t we don’t have a fight."

Key in that quote is the "Mosley did what I asked him to do," bit. Pacquiao, who has continually moved up in weight to find challenging fights, is the most marketable boxer on the planet and, along with promoter Bob Arum, is not interested in taking orders from another camp.

Peppered

Mayweather can stick to his convenient principles — this is the same guy who is being chased by the IRS for back taxes and recently had his name peppered throughout an attempted murder warrant filed against an associate — but the public consensus is he’s running scared.

Mayweather has built a beautiful 41-0 record by picking his spots. A splendid fighter with both athleticism and instinct rarely seen, Mayweather has become known as a dodger and not for his ring defence. Mosley waited over five years for his chance and wasn’t granted his shot until he reached the age of 38.

Mayweather has the reputation of waiting for fighters to age and then pulling them into the ring on their way down. This strategy paid off Saturday when Mosley had Mayweather in trouble in the second round but couldn’t finish him. Mayweather recovered but Mosley was shot, a washed-up fighter whose body would not do what his mind asked of it.

Pacquiao is clearly not such a boxer and despite fighting at 147 pounds, well above the 106 pounds he turned pro at as a 17-year-old, continues to show power against fighters more comfortable at that weight such as Oscar De La Hoya, Ricky Hatton and recently in his destruction of Miguel Cotto.

Mayweather has all the tools to beat Pacquiao and many believe he would if the fight were to happen.

The matchup is compelling and a fight between the two would be on the same level as Hagler-Hearns or Ali-Frazier.

But it’s far from a sure win and that doesn’t sit well with Money. He likes to know the cash is in the bank before he tries to clear the cheque.

It’s Mayweather’s legacy but in trying to protect it he’ll have ruined it.

gary.lawless@freepress.mb.ca