Manny Pacquiao: If Floyd Mayweather Jr. Wants Me For Next Fight, Have Him Call Me
Manny Pacquiao is still pushing for a slugfest with undefeated welterweight Floyd Mayweather Jr, but the pound-for-pound king has reiterated that he will not take on Pacman if the Filipino boxing icon doesn't heed his conditions.
Fresh off a 12-round domination of Timothy Bradley in their WBO Welterweight Championship rematch on Sunday, Pacquiao is already setting his sights on the big money showdown with Mayweather.
Pacquiao already declared his willingness to fight Mayweather in a post-fight interview with BBC News published Monday, but he demanded the Grand Rapids native call him first before they can arrange a formal negotiation.
"The line is open 24 hours, seven days a week. If he wants to fight, the fight will be on," said the 35-year-old Pacquiao, who won a world championship belt in eight different weight classes.
Millions of boxing fans around the world have been clamoring for a fight between the two best boxers in the business to happen, but to no avail, as disputes on fight purse sharing and stipulations, as well as a never-ending feud between Top-Rank and Golden Boy Promotions along with the cable war between HBO and Showtime Boxing have prevented this megafight from becoming reality.
Golden Boy promotions chief Richard Schaefer is also skeptical of a possible Mayweather vs. Pacquiao slugfest, as he even called it a "pipe dream."
"Is that how you negotiate or create goodwill? It doesn't make me want to say things that would leave hope for that fight, because I don't believe he wants the fight. This is how you do things when you don't want to get things done. So I'm not going to lead fans down that pipe dream," Schaefer said in an interview with the Los Angeles Times on Tuesday.
Mayweather is scheduled to fight Argentinian slugger Marcos Maidana on May 3 at the MGM Grand Garden in Las Vegas, Nev., while Pacquiao could face the winner of Mike Alvarado vs. Juan Manuel Marquez clash on May 17.