By Robert Morales

Floyd Mayweather Jr. sat on the ring apron Monday afternoon in front of the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, Calif. Mayweather and Juan Manuel Marquez were on hand for an open workout that appeared to be dominated by Marquez fans judging by the chants of "Marquez, Marquez."

The two will square off Saturday at MGM Grand in Las Vegas in what will be Mayweather's first fight since December 2007. Mayweather had just finished doing interviews with several reporters when we stepped in and got his thoughts on a couple of poignant issues.

For as long as we can remember, Mayweather has made it clear he doesn't read his press clippings. But the look on his face when asked how important it is to receive proper acknowledgement for his accomplishments spoke volumes.

"I don't think you're really going to understand my career until it's all over," Mayweather said. "Ten years, twenty years from now, when people's grandkids getting ready to see, they're going to be like, 'This kid was something special. This guy was something special. This fighter was something special.' "

Mayweather was speaking calmly. But he became a bit animated when the next subject was broached. There are more than a few reporters - not this one - who are giving Manny Pacquiao credit for having won titles in six weight classes.

Here's the rub: From a factual standpoint, it's only four. There was no title on the line when Pacquiao stopped Marco Antonio Barrera in the 11th round in a featherweight fight in 2003. Barrera may have been considered the people's champion, but he did not hold a sanctioned major world title at that time.

There also was no legitimate title on the line when Pacquiao knocked out Ricky Hatton in the second round in a junior welterweight fight in May. To be clear, the four governing bodies considered major by pretty much everyone are the WBC, WBA, IBF and WBO.

The title on the line for Pacquiao-Hatton was Hatton's IBO belt. Again, some could argue that Hatton was considered the top guy at that weight, but he did not hold a major belt. The IBO is a fringe organization.

Mayweather has legitimately won championships in five weight classes. All of them were WBC titles and Mayweather pointed out that belt, in his mind and perhaps that of others, is "the official belt."

Mayweather then took this opportunity to say just how he feels about the way he has been perceived as a fighter, and the way others are. A lot of what he said made sense.

"I've never been beaten yet. So I'm just saying, how can you rate a guy over me when not too long ago Erik Morales got beat by Zahir Raheem. Right after his loss, he beat (Manny) Pacquiao; they seem to forget about that. They seem to forget Pacquiao got knocked out twice (in 1996 and 1999). They don't seem to talk about that. Those are the type of things that they try to slide by," Mayweather said.

Obviously, Mayweather was talking about the notion that most, if not all, notable pound-for-pound polls have Pacquiao No. 1; some don't even have Mayweather ranked because of his inactivity. (For the record, Morales beat Pacquiao in their first fight in March 2005 and then lost to Raheem six months later.)

Mayweather was just getting started.

"And when I fought Oscar De La Hoya (at 154 pounds), Oscar De La Hoya gave me some 10-ounce heavyweight gloves when I fought him," Mayweather said. "But then when he fought Pacquiao, they fought at 147; he didn't want to fight me at 147."

Ricky Hatton's name was next.

"I laid the blueprint on how to knock Ricky Hatton out," Mayweather said. "But when he (Pacquiao) hit Ricky Hatton, he wasn't even looking. He threw a Hail Mary punch. And they fought with eight-ounce gloves. I knocked Ricky Hatton out when he was undefeated with 10-ounce gloves on. But they seem to forget about certain things like that."

It's true, it did seem like Pacquiao's eyes were not quite on Hatton when he knocked him out. But that doesn't mean much when it comes to Pacquiao. He's the guy who can look completely away from the speed bag and talk to someone across the boxing gym for more than a minute and never miss a beat. We've seen him do this many times and it's almost uncanny, like he has eyes on the side of his head.

Anyway, Mayweather wasn't finished.

"If you really just look, you ask yourself about different fighters, the fighters that's around right now. Where was they at when I was dominating in the 90s?" Mayweather said. "They seem to forget about that. I was dominating in the 90s. Where was all these fighters then?

"When I was dominating in the early 2000s, these fighters, you didn't hear about. When these fighters was getting knocked out, I was at the top of my game. When these fighters won world titles and lost world titles, I still was world champ. But they seem to forget I was world champion for 10 years straight. They seem to forget that."

And What About The Polls?

It's no secret that promoters for Saturday's bout - Golden Boy Promotions and Mayweather Promotions - are saying the winner of Mayweather-Marquez should be anointed No. 1 in the pound-for-pound polls. Oscar De La Hoya, president of Golden Boy, has echoed Mayweather's sentiment that he - not Pacquiao - should be considered No. 1 right now because Mayweather (39-0, 25 KOs) has never lost. Marquez is No. 2 in most ports.
  
Several hours after we spoke to Mayweather, Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto held a Beverly Hills news conference formally announcing their Nov. 14 fight at MGM Grand. Pacquiao and his trainer, Freddie Roach, were asked what they thought about this.

"I would be very surprised if that happened," Roach said. "They (Golden Boy) do own Ring Magazine, though, so ..."

Ring Magazine puts out a pound-for-pound poll.

Interestingly, Pacquiao said he couldn't care less.

"I told Freddie Roach, 'Give it to them, the No. 1 pound-for-pound,' " Pacquiao said. "We're always winning in the fights. We don't care."

Roach then added, "Will the winner fight us? That's the big question."

Predictions, Please

Pacquiao and Roach were both asked to forecast a winner for Mayweather-Marquez.

"It's a good fight but the advantage is with Mayweather," Pacquiao said. "He is faster than Marquez."
  
What about it, Freddie?

"Who cares?" Roach said. "I might fall asleep."

Arum Expecting Fight For The Ages

Bob Arum promotes Pacquiao and Cotto, which means unless there is a draw, one of his star fighters is going to absorb a loss in November. But Arum is nevertheless stoked at the possibilities of this fight. He spoke to BoxingScene prior to Monday's news conference.

"Huge, huge excitement," Arum said of the news conference tour that had stops at Yankee Stadium, Puerto Rico, San Francisco and Los Angeles; Pacquiao threw out the first pitch at a San Diego Padres game Tuesday, but there was no news conference there.

"There's a buzz like I haven't seen since the 80s," Arum said. "People are really anticipating this fight because they know they're going to see a real battle. I really believe from the moment the bell rings, this is going to be an all-out war just the way (Marvin) Hagler-(Thomas) Hearns was from the opening bell."

So, Arum was asked, who does he think will emerge victorious? (As if he was going to answer that).

"If you ask me who I think's going to win - I wouldn't tell you, anyway - but on this one I have no damn idea," he said. "None."

Not So Fast

Roach isn't so sure this is going to be a knockdown, drag-out fight.

"He breaks people down to the body," Roach said of Cotto. "We watched a lot of tapes on him and the one thing about Miguel, he knows how to nullify speed because that's how he dealt with Shane Mosley. He's very good with distance and timing, so we have to throw a bit of a curve ball at him and not really come right at him. So it could be a much more tactical fight than people think because he's a very strong fighter.

"The thing is, who can implement the game plan and use it to the fullest advantage? We have a speed advantage, yes, but we have to use it in the right way."

Escobedo Claims Marquez Faster Than Ever

Since Marquez will be fighting at two weight classes (well, almost) higher than he has in the past, he has bulked up. He looked good Monday, but one does have to wonder if adding muscle will slow the punching of the 36-year-old Mexican.

Vicente Escobedo, who, like Marquez is trained by Nacho Beristain, will be fighting Michael Katsidis for an interim lightweight world title on Saturday's undercard. Having trained at the same camp in Mexico, Escobedo has seen Marquez as much as anyone. He said he has no concern that the extra weight has slowed Marquez.
  
"One thing, when I first came in Marquez looked really big," Escobedo said. "His physique was strong and I was like, 'Oh, is that going to slow him down?' But as I've seen him, he's getting faster and faster. He's working the body well, coming upstairs."

Interestingly, Escobedo does not automatically believe his stablemate will win. But he does give him a chance.

"Mayweather is a good fighter, he's proven it," Escobedo said. "Mayweather has gotten the job done over the past years. No one has been able to beat him. I think Marquez could. It's not impossible. Anything is possible."

Ramirez Not Concerned About Hudson

"Sugar" Shane Mosley recently told BoxingScene that he had counted on strength and conditioning trainer Darryl Hudson and BALCO founder Victor Conte to make sure he wasn't taking any banned substances during his preparation for his second fight with Oscar De La Hoya in 2003.

Mosley later admitted during grand jury testimony he was taking the undetectable steroids "the cream" and "the clear" as well as EPO - a blood-doping agent - but that he did not know "the cream" and "the clear" were steroids or that he was ingesting anything illegal.

Hudson is now working with heavyweight Chris Arreola, who Sept. 26 will challenge Vitali Klitschko for his championship at Staples Center in Los Angeles.

We spoke with Arreola's trainer, Henry Ramirez, on Tuesday and he said he has no qualms about using Hudson in Arreola's camp.
  
"Well, we actually went with him (Hudson) shopping and everything that he purchased, Chris actually paid for everything that he purchased at a natural food store," Ramirez said. "We see everything that he takes. Darryl checked out with us.

"The only blemish or mark anybody could say is the Mosley thing. And he (Hudson) worked with Winky Wright, Chad Dawson, Tony Thompson, Lamon Brewster. There were never any problems with them, so he checked out with us."

Arreola Has An Off Day

Arreola sparred a total of nine rounds Tuesday with Cisse Salif, Malik Scott and Lance Whitaker. Arreola looked decent against Salif and Scott, but he slowed some in his last three rounds with the 6-foot8 Whitaker, who landed a lot of right crosses.

A week earlier Arreola had just as much energy in the ninth round as he did in the first.

"Chris looked a little sluggish today," said Ramirez, who said a fighter having an off day during training is nothing to be concerned about.

One thing's certain, Arreola looks to be in pretty good shape. He weighed 259 last week, but Ramirez said Arreola was probably in the mid-250s on Tuesday.

The key is, he did not look very flabby.

Robert Morales covers boxing for the Los Angeles Daily News, Long Beach Press-Telegram, and BoxingScene.com.