Floyd does not want to fight Pacquiao. Why? Because Pacquiao is such a risk for him, even though it may probably give him his biggest purse he does not want to get in the ring with him. Floyd has an ego the size of a small country. If all the ridicule and calling out by every other boxing personality and media guy was not able to goad this humongous ego into redeeming itself in the ring against the Filipino, what would be the most plausible reason for such a seemingly contradicting behavior? Floyd fears Pacquiao will make him look vulnerable, he knows the guy has the ability to connect and stretch him for the first time. He has seen how a knockout loss has affected Roy Jones Jr.'s legacy and how he was perceived after it by the boxing community. If anybody doesn't admit at this point that Floyd has been patterning his own career after Jones' he is in denial. Floyd has taken after Jones in terms of building up his own hype and getting anointed by HBO based on totally outclassing his opposition, extremely handpicked of course, above 135 lbs. He has seen how that deck of cards collapsed the moment Antonio Tarver got in Jones' way. With the way he has marketed himself, a loss is a ****** wrench that would require major PR spins and a rebuilding from the ground up which at this point in his career, even an Al Haymon would find a task too hard. You don't go from proclaiming "I'm the GOAT" to saying "I'll beat him in the rematch" and still command the respect of your die-hard fans and critics. No, he has seen Jones' fall and the collateral damage and he doesn't want any part of it at all. So he made a decision not to play by the same rules. He and Haymon came up with the idea of a "retirement", where he wouldn't be forced by the boxing establishment to fight the top dogs in or around his weight class, and where he can actually pick his next opponent if his whims dictate he has the urge to fight again. And he has seen this scenario in his and Haymon's heads that the suckers at HBO would only be too willing to accommodate his occasional showcase fights, no matter how cherry-picked they may be. But the manner in which the boxing world embraced Pacquiao as its king has certainly ruffled his feathers, thus his press conferences announcing his next fights, an interview here, a comment there, all with impeccable timing exactly coinciding with whatever is going on with Pacquiao. On the day before a Pacquiao fight, two days before a BWAA awards rites, everything has been designed with an envious eye towards the Filipino fighter. Unfortunately for Floyd, Pacquiao has been worthy of the accolades, and more. So much so that even Floyd knows to take him on would entail a risk that may leave him a la Roy Jones post Tarver. Floyd has made a decision not to fight Pacquiao the moment the Filipino started rewriting some boxing histories, and became an all too real threat to him, and his undefeated record. Is he scared of Pacquiao? Of course. Spinsters can call it another term, but if he weren't, does anybody really think his ego would let a single soul dare challenge his stake as this generation's best? It is this same ego that has prodded him time and again to do interviews, go on rants, just to keep his name afloat, but never with any intention of getting in the ring with Pacquiao. It's only the fear of Pacquiao, of what a loss to him will do to his legacy, his standing, that surpasses this enormous ego.
RJJ never had a fight this big that he never made in his day so please don't mention RJJ in this. People had a list of worthless opponents they thought Jones was "ducking" when all Jones did in his career was fight and beat champions or high ranked contenders. Mayweather is in a position all alone here, this is a huge fight that the public desperately demands and Mayweather is the one stopping it from happening. Whether it's ego or whatever, he won't get as much money or attention for taking this fight than any other and will always be questioned for not making it happen if he ruins it completely.
good post but i don't agree with some points. fisrtly, i don't agree that a fighter like roy jones, who fights past his prime and keeps fighting (and losing) has his legacy tarnished all that much. a great fighter is a great fighter, even if he does end his career on a lower rung of the food chain. i also don't agree that floyd has many parallels to jones' career. floyd's change of 'tactics' came about after he had done the business pre-gatti, but once he had beaten gatti and started earning serious money, he started becoming a superstar - and superstars in a sport with fragmented federations can make their own rules. it's not right but that's how it works. floyd still earned himself a solid resume as well as a PPV attraction. jones was never a PPV attraction and, like hopkins (who also wasn't) ruled one division while floyd followed the big bucks..... but i completely agree that floyd is doing a 180 against manny and can completely redeem himself in the ring - even if he loses the fight. but losing to pacman won't be anything like jones losing to tarver after cleaning out his division, beating ruiz and then shedding all those pounds and fighting tarver with nothing left to prove.
