Mayweather - Paquiao shouldn't be in the Hall of Fame

Unbeaten welterweight Floyd Mayweather Jr. can’t seem to get enough of Manny Pacquiao, whom he believes doesn’t deserved to be named Boxer of the Decade, more so, being inducted in the boxing Hall of Fame someday.

Mayweather made his latest tirade against the world’s top pound-for-pound fighter during a conference call in Las Vegas for his upcoming fight against fellow American Sugar Shane Mosley.

The 32-year old Mayweather questioned Pacquiao’s choice as the best boxer in the first 10 years of the 21st century, a stretch which he said saw the Filipino southpaw struggled twice against Mexican nemesis Juan Manuel Marquez and got beaten by Eric Morales in the first of their exciting trilogy.

“He struggled twice with Marquez, which we know he really lost, right? And he’s been outboxed by Eric Morales, but they still give him Boxer of the Decade. That’s something I don’t understand."

Pacquiao was named Boxer of the Decade by the Boxing Writers Association of America (BWAA) after winning Fighter of the Year honor thrice, including the years 2008 and 2009. The BWAA is set to confer him the award in June during its yearly dinner presentation in New York City.

The Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) likewise bestowed him the same honor during its annual rite held at the Manila Hotel last March 2.

As a seven-time champion in different weight categories and currently the best fighter in the world, pound-for-pound, Pacquiao is no doubt bound for the Hall of Fame upon his retirement.

For Mayweather though, Pacquiao has no place in the Hall of Fame.

“That’s not for me to choose. That’s not for me to put him in the Hall of Fame," said Mayweather.

Unlike the majority, Mayweather said he’s hardly impressed with two of Pacquiao’s last three fights – both knockout wins over champions Miguel Cotto and Ricky Hatton.

Cotto got knocked down twice before referee Kenny Bayless stopped their World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title fight in the 11th round last November at the MGM Grand, while Hatton, a former two-time world welterweight title holder, was flattened by Pacquiao in just two rounds of their International Boxing Organization (IBO) 140-pound showdown in May of 2009.

“He beat a Miguel Cotto who just got pummeled with a cast. So I mean, tell me what it really is," said Mayweather, referring to Cotto’s technical knockout loss to Antonio Margarito in 2007.

Cotto’s loss is now surrounded with a cloud of doubt after Margarito was found guilty of using illegal hand wrap just before he went up the ring with Mosley in their World Boxing Association (WBA) championship bout a year ago.

“And he beat a Ricky Hatton that got stretched by me. I’m trying to find out what it really is," added Mayweather.

Mayweather of course, knocked Hatton out in the 10th round of their 2007 face-off in a fight that proved to be the American’s last before he announced his retirement.

And while he’s at it, Mayweather once more challenged Pacquiao to take a blood test, a mitigating factor that led to the collapse of their supposed mega-fight this year.

Mayweather insisted that he and Pacquiao undergo Olympic-style drug testing as one of the pre-requisites for their highly-anticipated showdown.

But the Filipino’s refusal for a random-style drug test and Mayweather’s subsequent refusal to budge in led to the breakdown of negotiations.

Mayweather said if Pacquiao is truly clean and deserves to be elevated in the Hall of Fame, he should be man enough to take the test. “All I'm saying, if you're a clean athlete, take your test. That's all I'm saying. That's all I've got to say.

“If you're a clean athlete, take the test. Show the world, you know what, I'm a natural. Take the test, that's all I say. That you saw they come get you at any time and take the test." – GMANews.TV


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