Pacquiao says he ‘easily’ beats Mayweather as Floyd blames Arum for delay

 

 

MANILA, Philippines – Floyd Mayweather Jr. broke his silence on fight negotiations with Manny Pacquiao on Tuesday, January 20 (Wednesday PH time) to lambaste his rival during an interview with DJ Whoo Kid on the Sirius XM satellite radio station.

Mayweather (47-0, 26 knockouts) downplayed Pacquiao’s recent remarks about agreeing to terms for the bout, saying that Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KOs) cannot speak for himself as long as Bob Arum is his promoter. 

“Are we negotiating? Absolutely we are negotiating,” said Mayweather. “But Pacquiao said that he agreed to everything. What did you agree to? You have no say so. You have a boss. You don’t have no say so. You have a boss…that’s called Top Rank Promotions. It’s not called Pacquiao Promotions. With my company, it’s called Mayweather Promotions.”

(RELATED: Floyd Mayweather: ‘I don’t mind being a rich coward’)

Mayweather, who is recognized by The Ring magazine as the sport’s top pound-for-pound boxer, also took shots at Pacquiao’s recent dip in pay-per-view sales. Pacquiao’s most recent fight – a six-knockdown decision victory over previously unbeaten Chris Algieri – sold around 300,000 buys, which Arum attributes to the fight taking place away from American news outlets in the Chinese territory of Macau. 

“Figures make sense. He did get knocked out not too long ago,” said the 37-year-old Mayweather, taking another jab at Pacquiao’s 2012 knockout defeat to Juan Manuel Marquez.

“No matter what you say, Floyd Mayweather still winning. When they take shots at Floyd Mayweather, he’s still winning and making hundreds of millions.” 

Pacquiao has reportedly set a January 31 deadline for the fight to be made before he moves on, but Mayweather blames the delay in finalizing a deal on Arum, who used to promote Mayweather after the Las Vegas-based boxer turned pro following the 1996 Olympics. 

“We’re going to make it happen though,” Mayweather said. “We’re trying, but it’s been extremely difficult dealing with Top Rank. And I don’t want to sit here and point the finger at Pacquiao and say ‘It’s him.’ It’s not Pacquiao, it’s his promoter. A lot of times when Pacquiao says ‘I agreed’ – you don’t have nothing to do with this, you’re not a boss. On a chess board you’re a pawn.”

‘Maybe he’s scared to lose’

Pacquiao, who is in Los Angeles for the red carpet debut of his documentary “Manny” at the legendary TCL Chinese Theatre, has been brief in his televised messages to Mayweather, telling him simply to “sign the contract.”

However, Pacquiao’s official Twitter account was busy on Tuesday with tweets directed at “Money” Mayweather, causing commotion on social media with the message “I can easily beat @FloydMayweather, I believe that” that generated 50,000 retweets within three hours. 

I can easily beat @FloydMayweather, I believe that.

— Manny Pacquiao (@MannyPacquiao) January 20, 2015

Later tweets included: “If you really care about the fans, you will fight. If you care about yourself… you won’t fight” and “Everyone had me as a big underdog to @OscarDeLaHoya too. If @FloydMayweather fights me boxing will get an even bigger upset victory.”

That same day, Pacquiao appeared on ESPN, telling Sam Alipour that he and Arum had agreed to random drug testing, Mayweather’s preferred fight date of May 2 and to give Mayweather the larger slice of a 60-40 purse split.

 When asked if he thought Mayweather was ducking him, Pacquiao responded: “Right now, I think I believe.

“Maybe he’s scared to lose.”

Backup plans

Optimism had been running high that the fight people had most clamored for since Mayweather returned from a brief retirement in 2009 would take place on May 2. Rumors have since sprouted that Mayweather could instead face RING middleweight champion Miguel Cotto in a rematch of their 2012 bout after Cotto withdrew from discussions to face Saul “Canelo” Alvarez on the same date.

The Los Angeles Times however is reporting that a Cotto representative said they are angling to face former Pacquiao foe Timothy Bradley instead.

Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz, through whom Pacquiao is kept abreast of negotiation updates, tells reporter Elie Seckbach that Pacquiao has already begun looking in “another direction” for a fight, which he says will take place in April or May with or without Mayweather.

“That doesn’t mean we close the door on Floyd. It just means that we’re not gonna sit here for weeks in and weeks out hoping and waiting. If Floyd wants to accept the fight, we’ve done it on his terms so let’s do it.”

Should Pacquiao and Mayweather fail to come to terms once again, both could conceivably explore a fight with Amir Khan (who shares adviser Al Haymon with Mayweather) for their next date.

Pacquiao would more likely be paired with unbeaten WBA junior welterweight titleholder Jessie Vargas (25-0, 9 KOs) of Las Vegas. Vargas, who is also promoted by Top Rank, was touted as a potential Pacquiao opponent after Vargas defeated Antonio DeMarco on the undercard of Pacquiao-Algieri. – Rappler.com

Ryan Songalia is the sports editor of Rappler, a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) and a contributor to The Ring magazine. He can be reached at ryan.songalia@rappler.com. Follow him on Twitter: @RyanSongalia.