This content is protected By Jason Langendorf ESPN.com What's in a name? For Floyd "Money" Mayweather Jr., it's pretty much the whole shootin' match. It's also the reason you can count (in large bills) on a Manny Pacquiao-Mayweather duel coming off sometime in the not-so-distant future. Now, before Floyd Nation has a collective conniption and accuses me of painting their man in broad, caricatured strokes, just listen: Most level-headed boxing aficionados realize Mayweather is more than a cash-grabbing, smack-talking showman who won't truly test himself in the ring. Like most things in life, the truth is more nuanced. These are facts: Mayweather, arguably the finest fighter of his generation, has faced a sterling collection of opponents (Mosley, Marquez, De La Hoya and Corrales among them) without suffering so much as a smudge on his undefeated record. He's an all-time great -- arguably the most gifted defensive boxer in history -- and, for good reason, is one of the most marketable athletes the sport has known. But these, too, are facts: Increasingly, Mayweather has publicly defined himself on the standing of two things -- his unblemished record and his unrivaled cash flow. And if you read between the lines and follow his recent documented behavior -- the Benjamins bonfire notwithstanding -- it's easy to surmise "Money" puts more weight on the latter than the former. No matter what you think of Mayweather as a man or a fighter, he's undeniably shrewd when it comes to the business of boxing. He's masterful when selling a fight and his timing with regard to career decisions is impeccable. Which is why I can't imagine the Pac-May jockeying of the past two years being, in Money's mind, anything more than the proper preamble to the most lucrative fight in boxing history. Rather than either fighter actually fearing the other, Pacquiao's and Mayweather's on-again off-again posturing has more to do with pride and payouts. Could Mayweather make a few more well-paid appearances against solid foes before riding off into the sunset with his no-loss legacy? Sure. But can you imagine him being offered the chance to stamp his name on boxing's biggest-money fight ever ... and taking a pass? Mayweather will face a younger, hard-hitting southpaw in Victor Ortiz on Sept. 17. Prep work for Pacquiao? Could be. But if you ask me, it's just as likely a vehicle to maintain the Mayweather brand, continue publicly baiting Pacquiao and further heighten the hunger for the mother of all prizefights. Pacquiao wants it. Boxing needs it. The sport's power brokers won't let it die. Mayweather? When the time is right -- when he decides it's time -- he'll show.
