By Edward Chaykovsky

Although Floyd Mayweather Jr. had a tougher time than expected against Marcos Maidana earlier this month, IBF/WBA light heavyweight champion Bernard Hopkins is still pretty confident that Mayweather would handle Manny Pacquiao quite easily if a fight was put together. Hopkins feels Pacquiao has slid further, in terms of his physical abilities, than Mayweather.

"I believe that if Floyd Mayweather and Pacquiao fight tomorrow, I think it would be easy money for Floyd Mayweather. I didn’t think totally that way four or five years ago when the hype was at the highest. I think that Pacquiao took three notches back. That’s my opinion — and that was before the knockout from Marquez," Hopkins told On The Ropes Boxing Radio.

While many fans would still like to see it, Hopkins believes the fight should have happened several years ago when the widespread interest was there.

"I don’t agree with anybody that thinks that Pacquiao-Mayweather is the big fight per say of the perception of who would win and who would lose like it was before. I think we lost that opportunity, I think we lost the biggest super bowl in boxing," Hopkins said.