Pacquiao is running scared, claims Floyd
FLOYD MAYWEATHER has accused Manny Pacquaio of running scared of a potential super-fight next year.
Pacquiao was linked to a showdown with Mayweather after justifying his claim as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world when stopping Miguel Cotto in Las Vegas on Sunday.
But Mayweather has accused the five-weight champion of being “one-dimensional” and believes the Filipino is looking to avoid any potential match-up.
“When they asked Manny Pacquiao ‘would you like to fight Floyd Mayweather’ he said ‘talk to my promoter’, the American said. “They didn’t ask your promoter, they asked you, what do you want to do?
“Manny Pacquiao was asked the same question ‘do you want to fight Floyd Mayweather’ three times. This is something the world is trying to force on him. If he wants to fight Floyd Mayweather all he has to do is step up to the plate.”
In contrast, Mayweather has welcomed the challenge with open arms, but feels he is on a hiding to nothing in taking on the new WBO welterweight champion in the fight the world is desperate to see.
“The thing is with Pacquiao I don’t see any versatility as a fighter; he’s a good puncher but just one-dimensional,” he added.
“But I’m in a no-win situation. If I beat Manny Pacquiao do you know what they are going to say? ‘You are supposed to beat him, you are Floyd Mayweather, you are the bigger man’. If I knock him out they’ll say ‘you’re supposed to knock him out he’s been knocked out before’.
“I’m in a no-win situation and when I beat him no one is going to be surprised because he’s been beaten before; whatever I do to Pacquiao has been done before – he’s been beaten on three occasions. And if I knock him out I don’t want the world shouting because he’s been knocked out twice before. The world’s going to go ‘wow’ if Floyd Mayweather gets beaten. That’s what everyone is looking to see.”