Even in taking the Shane Mosley fight, at the back of Floyd Mayweather Jnr’s mind looms the large shadow of Manny Pacquiao – the man who inherited his throne as boxing’s pound for pound king.
Even the most diehard revisionist of boxing pundits will agree that Manny taking on Joshua Clottey forced Floyd’s hand into getting into a tough fight he had to take in order to remain in the conversation of who is the best welterweight today.
At stake also is Floyd’s legacy as one of the best boxers to emerge in the aftermath of Mike Tyson’s fall from grace. A time when the biggest names in boxing need not wear a pair of 12-oz boxing gloves. Where million-dollar purses are no longer the exclusive domains of the heavyweights.
Floyd would have earned the honor of being the best boxer in the decade past - in his generation, even - if only Manny Pacquiao did not captivate the boxing world with his thrill-every-second fighting style and record-breaking accomplishments.
Manny’s emergence as a dominant slugger-turned--boxer is throwback to the era when the best meets only the best in his division and even beyond. When boxing was at its purest.
All of a sudden, Manny became the barometer and standard of the sport that badly needed bankable marquee fighters following the ungraceful exit of Oscar de la Hoya and the growing popularity of full contact mixed martial arts.
The phenomenal success and the popularity of Manny have weighed down on Floyd heavily.
Before Manny boxed and slugged his way into the top of his sports, Floyd Mayweather Jnr was ‘The Man’ – the best there was, even if he and his camp adroitly selected opponents to maintain his unblemished record.
But a new kid on the block has arrived. A shark contrast to the flamboyant but oftentimes pugnacious Mayweather who not only trash talks, waves wads of dollar bills and throws them into the dance floor but also a man fixated with his super inflated ego.
Finally, boxing writers have good copy in Manny, not because of his quotable quotes, but because of his ring exploits.
Manny Pacquiao forced every sports scribe who loves boxing and even those who occasionally dabble in the sport to dissect the sweet science in the Filipino champion.
Some are saying the Mayweather-Mosley fight is the next best fight after the aborted Mayweather-Pacquiao encounter.
But they sometimes forgot that it was Pacquiao who made it happen. And that all roads still lead to Manny at the end of the day – when the boxing world will again demand to know who the best is in our generation.
Mayweather has that in mind. But he also knew that if he wins, he does not have to fight Manny and still can claim his spot in boxing history. In fact, I am betting he will use a possible win against Mosley as another bargaining chip. But he has to win against Mosley by all means because a loss will mean the end of the road for him.
Mayweather may have one-upped Manny in agreeing to fight Mosley. But it is the thought of the Filipino still in front of him that will haunt him after May 1 – win or lose.
Source: asiancorrespondent.com
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