Mayweather Finally Answers Pacquiao’s Challenge To Fight: ‘Let’s Make It Happen On May 2’
Floyd Mayweather Jr. has finally broken his silence regarding Manny Pacquiao's challenge to fight. Mayweather said he wants to fight Pacquiao on May 2, 2015.
In an exclusive interview with Showtime, Mayweather said that he definitely wants to fight Pacquiao, contrary to what a lot of people is claiming and saying that he is afraid to fight the eight-division Filipino world champion. He added that they did try to make the fight happen since it was first discussed a few years ago, but setbacks involving random drug testing had prevented the fight from coming to fruition. According to Mayweather, he just wants to be on an "even playing field" as far as the fight goes.
Having had lost to Juan Manuel Marquez and Timothy Bradley, Mayweather thinks that Pacquiao is hardly profitable. The Grand Rapids native fighter said that Pacquaio's Pay-Per-View, or PPV, numbers are down "extremely low" that is why he claims that Filipino is so "desperate" to fight him. He said he wanted to fight Pacquiao a long time and he is only waiting on them. Mayweather still has two more fights in his lucrative Showtime deal and he said that the Pacquiao fight should happen nowhere else, but in Showtime PPV.
If both camps are able to settle the fight, Mayweather said he is more than willing to fight Pacquiao in his next fight, which is scheduled to be in May 2015. To others, Mayweather is flamboyant fighter who tries to cherry picks his opponent. However, he made it clear that ducking or dodging any opponent is not on his vocabulary. Mayweather claims that it is Top Rank Founder Bob Arum who is the main hurdle why the Pacquiao fight still hasn't happened yet.
"We have been trying to make this fight happen, behind the scenes, for years now but the fans and the people have been fooled because they have been listening to people just on one side," Mayweather said. "Now, it's time for us to talk - we want to fight, we are ready, let's make it happen May 2, Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao, let's do it"
On the topic of his primary motivation to fight Pacquiao, whether or not to mark his legacy in boxing, fans' request, or money, Mayweather said that it is a little bit of everything. He claims that the fans would love to see the fight even though he knows that Pacquiao is not on the same level as him.
Mayweather calls out on Pacquiao and Arum and said that the Filipino and the veteran promoter have been ducking them for years. He said that Pacquiao and Arum have been pulling the wool over fans and critics of the sport for a long time. From taking the random blood and urine testing to being offered $40 million, Pacquiao and his camp still didn't take the fight. After two losses, Pacquiao's camp is begging for the fight, Mayweather claims.
The talks about a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight have long been on the table. Almost a quarter of a billion U.S. dollars have also been projected. Boxing Scene has previously reported that a group of investors in Abu Dhabi are more than willing to produce the funds to make the fight happen.
Akbar Muhammad, who is the president and chief executive officer of Akbar Productions, has said that the UAE investors is ready to give the combined purse of $200 million just to give the fans the fight that they have been craving to see.
Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated also reported that if the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight indeed is finalised, the undefeated boxer would take home two-thirds of the revenue from the super bout. Arum, on the other hand, had rejected such claims and said that the number is not accurate.
