By Rick Reeno
MGM Grand, Las Vegas - On Tuesday afternoon, the soon to be retired Floyd Mayweather Jr. sat with the media and answered questions regarding his post-boxing future . He was asked for his opinion as to which fighter will become the number one guy in the sport. Mayweather took a minute to think about the answer and then surprised a few people when he named his May 2 opponent, Manny Pacquiao, as the guy who will sit on the throne as the top fighter in the sport post-September 12.
"Probably Manny Pacquiao. We can't just take [his recognition and accomplishments] away from him. We can't just take that away from him because he lost to me. I would say Manny Pacquiao," Mayweather said.
Mayweather won a twelve round unanimous decision over Pacquiao, and the fight crushed every existing financial record in the sport.
The final career opponent for Mayweather, this coming Saturday night, will be former two-time champion Andre Berto.
Berto is trained by Virgil Hunter, who disagrees with Mayweather's opinion on Pacquiao becoming the number one guy in boxing.
Hunter believes his longtime student, Olympic gold medal winner Andre Ward (28-0, 15KOs), is the best fighter in the world and come Sunday morning he will still hold the title, according to Hunter, as the best fighter in the sport.
"[It's going to be] Andre Ward, because he's the best fighter in the world bar none. Andre Ward is the best fighter in the world. In the welterweight division you mean? They can say who they want to say. But the best fighter in the world is Andre Ward. Nobody wants to fight Andre Ward. To me, he's the best fighter in the world," Hunter said.
