With his recent demolition of Cotto, Manny Pacquiao has clearly proven that he belongs in the welterweight division.  Unfortunately, while this makes a meeting between Pacquiao and Mayweather the only fight that makes sense to any boxing fan, this also makes such an encounter highly unlikely.

Why?  Put simply, Mayweather has made it a habit to avoid fighting any of the top welterweight boxers.  Yes, he is arguably the best welterweight boxer around today, but “arguably” is the key word there because he hasn’t proven it in the ring against the top welterweight contenders.  He is ducking top competition – there really is no way around it.

Now Mayweather is saying fighting Pacquiao is a no-win fight for him.  Bullshit.

Pacquiao is the biggest draw in boxing today.  From a business standpoint, the only fight that makes sense for Mayweather is one against Pacquiao.  History that shown that he will choose a bigger payday over a quality opponent any day.  Pacquiao is the biggest payday for Money Mayweather today.

He says that beating Pacquiao proves nothing.  He says Pacquiao has been beaten and knocked out before.  So what?!?  He was beaten back when he was a one-trick pony who didn’t really know how to box.  He has grown, learned, and improved since then, and now he looks invincible.  Beating Pacquiao (if you actually dare to try) proves that you are the greatest.  The saying goes, to be the man, you have to beat the man.  Right now, Manny is the man, not Floyd.  Manny has taken on all comers and beaten them down.  Who has Floyd beat recently?

Yes, I know he beat Juan Manuel Marquez last September, but if you want to talk about proving something, that fight really doesn’t count.  JMM had to gain nine pounds to make the agreed weight.  There’s no way you bring your speed and power with you when you have to gain that much weight.  Sure, it’s possible to do that over the course of a few years, but in JMM’s case, the bulk was just excess baggage.  The Mayweather – Marquez bout was a sham – it was a fight between two of the best boxers today, but one of them was way out of shape.

Going back to the video, Floyd harps on about how Manny kept avoiding the “do you want to fight Mayweather” question.  The simple explanation is a concept that Mayweather will probably never understand: real fighters don’t care who they fight.  Manny doesn’t answer the question because he simply leaves it up to to his trainers and promoter.  He doesn’t avoid fights – he simply fights whomever is put in front of him.

Mayweather seems to think that fighting Pacquiao is a no-win situation for him.  He couldn’t be further from the truth.  Fighting Pacquiao is the only situation that makes sense for him now.  If he wants to definitively prove his greatness, then beating Pacquiao will do so once and for all.  He can retire immediately afterwards, and nobody will ever doubt that he was the greatest boxer of his era.  Heck, it’ll most likely be his biggest payday too – even bigger than his fight with the Golden Boy.

On the other hand, avoiding a fight with Pacquiao will ensure that the ducking accusations will never die.  Yes, he will be seen as one of the best boxers in his time, but he will never be among the greatest of all time.  I know it’s a cliche, but you have to fight the great to be great – and Mayweather has simply refused to do that.  Avoiding Pacquiao will prove that he is afraid to put his unbeaten record on the line.

Mayweather thinks that fighting Pacquiao is a no-win situation.  I think otherwise.  I think not fighting Pacquiao is the no-win situation here.  Not fighting Pacquiao will taint his legacy and expose just how afraid he is of fighting elite competition.  Not fighting Pacquiao will show that he isn’t great at all, and he is, in fact, just a pretender.

Floyd Mayweather thinks that fighting Pacquiao is a no-win situation.  He is dead wrong.  Floyd Mayweather taking on Manny Pacquiao and beating him will prove just how great a fighter he is.  Then again, we’re talking about Manny Pacquiao here.  Floyd Mayweather taking on Manny Pacquiao and beating him – that’s just a fantasy.