Floyd Mayweather Jr. v Manny Pacquiao (Photo : Getty Images)
Former pound-for-pound king Floyd "Money" Mayweather Jr. may be retired as of the moment, but that's not stopping him from making headlines in a sport he dominated not too long ago. The Las Vegas native recently turned 39 but due to a career he's spent as perhaps the most defensive fighter in history, damage accumulated has been kept to a minimum and as a result, he's as fresh as he was in his mid-20's.
And while a great number of observers believe we haven't seen the last of him in the ring, Mayweather insists he's retired. That however did not stop the 49-0 Mayweather to take the stage recently, telling everyone who wanted to listen how he would beat Gennady Golovkin and Manny Pacquiao (again).
"I can barely make 147, so how can I fight at 160," said Mayweather, in reference to a showdown with middleweight champion Golovkin.
Golovkin is undefeated at 34 wins and no losses, and holds the WBA, IBF, and IBO world middleweight titles. He's largely considered the most avoided fighter in boxing due to his fearsome knockout power which he has utilized to score 91% of his victories.
A Mayweather-Golovkin bout is the biggest fight in boxing right now, considering "Money" gets out of retirement for a bout with the Kazakh banger. The appeal lies in how Mayweather's defensive genius could hold up to Golovkin's awesome power.
Mayweather however, dismissed Golovkin as a worthy challenger by calling him one-dimensional and predictable.
"Triple G, I mean, not being disrespectful, but he's straight up and down, no special effects," said Mayweather. "That's easy work."
While Mayweather has always backed up his boasting, fans have grown weary of Mayweather trash-talk over the years and prefer the Michigan-born fighter do his talking in the ring.
Aside from Golovkin, Mayweather also took the time to call out Filipino ring icon Manny "Pacman" Pacquiao whom he defeated via 12-round unanimous decision back in May of last year.
"With the Pacquiao fight, you know, 10 rounds to 2, that was a blowout," said Mayweather.
The Mayweather-Pacquiao super fight became the richest fight in boxing history, completely shattering any and all financial records and was responsible for pocketing Mayweather over $200-million in a single night.
Pacquiao was said to have had the best chance of dealing the unbeaten Mayweather his first loss as a professional but floundered in an underwhelming performance. As a result, Mayweather handled Pacquiao's challenge with ease, leaving a bad taste in the mouth of fans who had waited years for the fight to materialize.
Although a bout against Golovkin would be completely out of left field, many believe a Pacquiao rematch could be what gets Mayweather out of retirement. Despite the first fight being a complete dud, some believe Pacquiao could do much better in a rematch if he had use of both of his arms. Pacquiao complained of a shoulder injury which affected his performance in the first bout, limiting the power in his jab and right hook particularly.
Pacquiao is currently scheduled to face American Timothy Bradley on April 9 in a rubber match and if he is impressive in doing so, the Filipino firecracker could land another date with Money May down the road.
