Is Floyd Mayweather Jr. Afraid of Fighting Amir Khan and Manny Pacquiao?
Boxing legend Marvin Hagler questioned Floyd Mayweather's willingness to face the best possible adversaries, saying that the reigning pound-for-pound king could be cherry-picking his opponents.
Hagler said in an interview that boxing champions should take on all comers, pointing out that he made sure he was fighting the best challengers during his prime to erase all doubts about his ability to face tough challenges.
"I believe the best way is to fight the top and the way my career led me was fighting the best so this way you feel good about yourself when you have finished because you know you did not duck anyone. You gave everyone an opportunity," Hagler said via The Daily Mail.
Mayweather is considered as the best pound-for-pound boxer today, but the former middleweight champion insisted that the Grand Rapids, Mich., native should fight Amir Khan or Manny Pacquiao before he retires to further cement his legacy.
"With Mayweather we have got to see if he retires and he hasn't given Manny Pacquiao a shot or given Khan a shot. There will be a conversation that maybe he was afraid of them," Hagler said.
Mayweather seriously considered picking Amir Khan as his next opponent for his next fight on May 3, but the 37-year-old champion opted to choose reigning WBA welterweight champion Marcos Maidana instead.
Khan was disappointed with Mayweather's decision especially after turning down a previous title showdown with IBF welterweight champion Devon Alexander just to stay in the running for Mayweather's next fight.
Khan recently revealed, though, that he could be Mayweather's next opponent if he can defeat Luis Collazo in their upcoming showdown, and if Mayweather beats Maidana.
On the other hand, the long-anticipated super fight between Pacquiao and Mayweather is still unlikely to happen at this point since the Filipino boxing icon is still under Top Rank Promotions.
Mayweather insisted that he has no interest in doing business with Top Rank CEO Bob Arum again.
Hagler also admitted that he can't see the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight happening after Pacquiao's twin losses to Timothy Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez in 2012.
"Mayweather is going to retire after a couple of more fights because there's nobody out there," Hagler said. "Mayweather-Pacquiao won't have the interest it had before. Maybe they would have pulled in a hundred million dollars but that's gone now."