Manny Pacquiao was a great fighter, no matter what Floyd Mayweather would have you believe.
Money May had some choice words about the Pac-Man, per BoxingScene's Bill Emes:
You guys (the media) built Pacquiao up to this level, and said he was better than Floyd Mayweather...you guys did. I'm not pointing a finger at no particular figure. I'm going to stay in my lane and I'm pretty sure that Pacquiao will stay in his lane.
At this point, Pacquiao shouldn't even dignify Mayweather's opinion with a response. He should simply let his record and accolades speak for themselves.
Over his career, he's gone 54-5-2 and won titles in eight different weight divisions. It takes a talented fighter to accomplish that.
Boxing is generally a meritocracy where the cream eventually rises to the top, and the pretenders are found out sooner or later. The media has built up plenty of fighters in the past who have all come crashing down to earth.
The comment is pretty ironic coming from Mayweather, considering how much his camp did to build up Robert Guerrero. So much of the buildup focused on how talented Guerrero was and that Mayweather was so vulnerable.
During the fight, Mayweather made his opponent look like an amateur, ducking most of his best punches and winning just about every round.
There's no debating that Pacquiao is in the twilight of his career. He's coming off losses in his last two fights, the knockout at the hands of Juan Manuel Marquez gaining a significant amount of Internet fame. Still, those two losses can't overshadow everything the Pac-Man has done in his career.
Pacquiao became one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, but even he can't beat Father Time. At 34 years old, he simply can't do the same kind of things in the ring that he did four or five years ago.
It happens to every great fighter. He hangs on for too long and has a couple of embarrassing results. Nobody ever lets those last few fights sum up an entire career, though.
Otherwise, Sugary Ray Leonard and Muhammad Ali wouldn't be considered some of the best of their generation.
As Pacquiao continues declining and Mayweather remains unbeaten, a segment of fans who share Mayweather's beliefs could start to form. They'll argue that Money May never needed to fight Pacquiao because the Pac-Man was nothing more than hype and far inferior to Mayweather.
It's a clever trick by Mayweather, but it's not going to work. And why it's not going to work is because Pacquiao is not the only fighter whom Mayweather has avoided like the plague throughout his career.
On more than one occasion, Mayweather has ducked potential opponents. Wins against Oscar De La Hoya and Shane Mosley are a bit hollow considering the two were past their primes when Mayweather took them on.
Mayweather sees the pebbles of sand dropping down the hourglass. Now is the time to start bolstering his legacy. The reality is that Mayweather cannot be considered one of the best ever because his level of competition was below that of stars before him. Not fighting Pacquiao is still a black mark on Money May's resume.
Since the reality doesn't suit him, Mayweather is trying to change the perception.
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