Pacquiao Will Be Ducked By Mayweather(article from July of 2009)

The biggest fight in boxing won’t happen. Manny Pacquaio is game of course, but Floyd Mayweather doesn’t want to take the risk of getting flattened by the Filippino force. Mayweather won’t come out and say this but the clues are quite clear. I have been observing and studying this sport for almost two decades from an insider’s perspective and I know how Mayweather operates and his remarkable skills in evading dangerous fights. The first clue came in a Biofile interview I did with Floyd about three years ago in New York. He actually named Manny Pacquiao as one of his favorite current fighters to watch, and added, “He packs a helluva punch.” At the time, Mayweather did not foresee Pacquiao as a potential future opponent and thus revealed his true opinion of the Pac Man. Another key clue came a couple of months ago when a questioner asked Floyd about fighting Pacquiao next after Marquez. Floyd replied that he would beat the **** out of Manny Pacquiao and Pacquiao knows that. Floyd used the same tactic to duck Miguel Cotto last year – of claiming victory by words and not actions. It was set up perfectly for Mayweather to match up with Miguel Cotto last summer in a battle of unbeaten welterweight champions – and Bob Arum and Cotto were actively pursuing a fight with Floyd, Floyd squelched the mega-fight by saying Miguel Cotto is a punching bag, Miguel Cotto knows he can’t beat me. If that wasn’t enough of a reason to avoid Cotto, Floyd also added that he didn’t do business with Bob Arum, Miguel Cotto wasn’t his own man (entrepreneur), and that Cotto had his chance to fight a few years earlier but didn’t take it because he was too green. The end result was that Cotto vs. Mayweather never happened, because Mayweather ducked it and cost boxing a super marquee match-up between the two best welterweight champions in the world in 2008. That would have been a fascinating showdown between two contrasting personalities and styles at the height of their powers. This fight could have been bigger than Duran vs. Leonard or Leonard vs. Hearns. Dodged by Floyd, Cotto then agreed to face Antonio Margarito instead, last July. Mayweather, knowing the public and media pressure for him to face the winner of Cotto-Margarito would grow much louder and justified, decided to escape from it by hiding in a phony retirement. Now that Cotto has lost to Margarito and Margarito has lost to Shane Mosley, Mayweather, as we know, has decided to return from his fake retirement. Earlier this year, when Manny Pacquiao and Ricky Hatton were in the early stages of negotiations for their fight, Team Mayweather contacted Team Hatton and attempted to undercut Pacquaio to make a rematch with Hatton. Ricky Hatton’s father revealed this information which was published in Boxing News weekly magazine based in London. Team Hatton told Team Mayweather that they were too far into negotiations with Pacquiao and for this reason Floyd was spurned. As we know now, Floyd opted to handpick Juan Manuel Marquez as his “comeback” fight. But it is a fact Mayweather (as documented in Boxing News) attempted to make a rematch with Hatton earlier this year, to block Pacquiao from getting the chance at the popular gate attraction Hatton. The next significant clue came at the Mayweather-Marquez press conference in May. Leonard Ellerbe told me directly that Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather will NEVER happen unless Floyd earns the bigger share of the purse. And the way he firmly emphasized the “never” indicated clearly to me that they were absolutely not planning or desiring to face Pacquiao. This wasn’t just negotiation posturing, the way I know how Mayweather operates, I know this was a tactic of making an unreasonable demand as a way to evade Pacquiao. You’ll just have to trust me on that. Arum could compromise even more than taking 50-50% – as he did at Cotto-Clottey – he could even go to 49-51% and Mayweather still would not accept it. Trust me. Have you heard Mayweather specify a percentage amount he would take for Pacquiao? No you have not. Because he is not interested in the fight. The next clue is not as concrete but when you connect the dots, it’s quite clear. Since the supposed rib injury suffered by Floyd (we heard ticket sales were horrendous), which has pushed back the Marquez fight to September, we have not heard Floyd say anything about fighting Pacquiao next. It’s a gigantic money fight, but Money Mayweather is not doing his part to hype it up in these preliminary stages. He is mute silent about Pacquiao. If Floyd really was so confident in himself and desired to make the huge money vs. Pacquiao, wouldn’t you expect him to have some kind of public comment about Pacquiao vs. Cotto, which Bob Arum has stated is being discussed. If Floyd wanted first crack at Pacquiao and truly believed he would beat the **** out of Pacquaio, wouldn’t he try to discourage Arum from making Cotto vs. Pacquiao, or at least express some kind of interest to fight Pacquiao next? No, Floyd has been silent about fighting Pacquiao. He’s letting the lucrative Pacquiao option go away without saying anything. Why the hell would Money Mayweather not want to be a part of the biggest money fight in all of boxing? Everyone knows Pacquiao vs. Mayweather has to be a 50-50% split. Each could earn in excess of $25 million for a fight that every boxing fan is already eagerly anticipating. Floyd Mayweather does not want to fight Manny Pacquiao because he knows there is more than good chance the Filippino Destroyer would brutally and savagely knock him out. I’m telling you right now, the fight is not going to happen. No amount of public and media pressure on Mayweather will force him to fight someone he fears. He might even escape to another phony retirement to dodge Pacquiao. Floyd will do anything to avoid fighting a man he fears. So, however much you respect the abilities, power, and class of Manny Pacquiao, it’s time to add some more admiration for this man. Because the self-proclaimed greatest fighter of all time does not want and will not consider to fight him. Just remember where you heard THAT first. http://www.*************.com/headlines/pacquiao-will-be-ducked-by-mayweather/ Don't really have a bias towards either fighter.Just found this article I recently came across a particularly interesting read.