Boxing Expert Claims Floyd Mayweather Jr. Could Miss Hall of Fame Spot If American Doesn’t Fight Manny Pacquiao

The pressure is mounting for Floyd Mayweather Jr. to fight Manny Pacquiao— a super fight that every fight fan and boxing experts is demanding for years now. One of those experts is Yahoo Sports’ writer Kevin Iole who claims that if the undefeated American doesn’t fight the Filipino pugilist, it will go against him when the organisation running the Hall of Fame eventually decides on the status of Mayweather in the inclusion in the sports’ most-revered list.

“If Mayweather finishes his career with a perfect record, as seems likely, but doesn't fight Pacquiao, which also seems likely, he'll never get fully away from it. There will be a significant number of voters who will withhold support from him for the International Boxing Hall of Fame for not facing the best opponent of his era,” Iole wrote in the article published on Wednesday.

In the same piece, the Yahoo writer also claimed that Mayweather’s continued silence on the matter is intentional, because “by barricading himself from the media, Mayweather avoids having to answer why the fight everyone wants to see hasn't happened.”

Since Bob Arum, president and founder of Top Rank Promotions, which is the outfit that handles Pacquiao fights, has publicly admitted that there were indeed discussions with CBS Corporation Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Leslie Moonves about the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao super fight for 2015, Mayweather has yet to categorically admit that negotiations are indeed on-going.

There has been some feelers from Mayweather like posting the video of Juan Manuel Marquez’s knockout of Pacquiao in 2012 in his social media accounts but it could be open to different interpretations. There’s the Sports Illustrated report from Chris Mannix, who has mentioned a source within the Mayweather camp that claims that Mayweather is also thinking about the fight but will demand two-thirds of whatever revenue the fight will get.

So while the clamour for the Mayweather vs. Pacquiao is getting louder by the day, Mayweather is choosing to remain mum about the super fight. And in the eventuality that he refuses once again, it appears Mayweather’s reputation will continue to take a hit. And for Iole, it could even mean his revered spot in boxing history.