“Yeah, I actually think we are going to get that Pacquiao-Mayweather fight next year. If they both take care of business in their upcoming fights; obviously, they have to win their fights. Mayweather has Ortiz and Pacquiao has to get past Marquez once again. If they get past that, I think with all of the other options and all of the other things that are not there with many guys in anything, especially in boxing, that are there for Pacquiao…I think it’s just a matter of sense that he’s going to be looking to close up shop at some point soon. And the way that he’s going to close up shop is with the biggest fight out there from a money standpoint, and also from a legacy standpoint. I think that the time will be close next year to that, and I think Mayweather the same thing. They realize that the fight is as big as it can get and if you’re going to do it and you’re going to get it, the getting is now,” stated ESPN commentator and world-class trainer Teddy Atlas as he shared his toughts on whether not we’ll ever see Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao step into the ring to face each other. In this in-depth exclusive, Atlas also breaks down Mayweather’s September showdown with Victor ortiz and gives his opinion on Mike Tyson’s induction to the Hall of Fame. You don’t want to miss what he had to say.
PC: Whether you love or hate Floyd Mayweather Jr., when he announces a ring return, there is a certain buzz that takes over the sport of boxing. Victor Ortiz is coming off of his greatest performance of his career and Floyd is coming off of another long layoff. How do you see this one playing out my man?
TA: Yeah, Floyd is one of those enigmas. He’s one of those guys that’s special in his particular sport where he’s already accumulated enough experience and enough confidence, and obviously has developed enough skillset, where the layoffs don’t bother him as much as it would bother a kid that is still finding himself and developing in some of those areas, so I think that’s part of it. But of course, there is a line you have to draw. How long do you go inactive before it starts to show itself with anybody, including Floyd. I don’t think he’s crossed that line quite yet. I think that it’s obvious where he has his advantages: experience, having that 0 at the end of his record, having never lost that confidence that he carries with himself, and obviously his style. I think it is an interesting match and I think it’s interesting for only one reason. It looks like Ortiz found himself in his last fight. This was a kid who we thought was a prospect, and he was a prospect, and a lot of people had high expectations for him, starting with the Golden Boy crew. And then, he submitted in a fight. He gave up and quit in a fight, and all of those thoughts we previously had about him went south for a moment. Fighter’s have done that before and they never accomplished what people thought they would accomplish, and others ones have, and they found themselves. They redeemed themselves so to speak and that’s no different than what Vitali Klitschko did. I see a similarity, and a lot of people maybe wouldn’t see this, but it’s similar to when Klitschko fought Lennox Lewis. To me, it wasn’t about winning that fight against Lennox Lewis that night. It was about redeeming himself as a man and as a fighter, which is what he is supposed to be, and showing that he could be that. And he did it. He lost the fight, but he redeemed himself and he’s done nothing but good from that since. And he still is to this day, even though he’s older. That’s an important part of this game is to know that you can depend on yourself from that standpoint. And I think that’s exactly what was going on in that fight with Ortiz when he fought Berto. He got off of the floor and he got tested in a way that fighters will get tested sometimes and he passed in the best way that you can pass. He got off of the floor and behaved like a fighter and he became a champion. I think that’s what we’re looking to see here is how much he grows from that now. He had that fight and you want to think he found himself in that fight, and he grew up in that fight and redeemed himself in that fight. Now he can start to put together some of the things that a lot of people saw when they saw him coming into the pros out of the amateurs. Now you have to see how much does he take and run with what he accomplished in the Berto fight. Is he satisfied with that? Is that what that was about; just to show that you are a man and that you can behave like a fighter, or do you take the rest of it with it, the way Klitschko did, and do you continue to grow now that you’ve got the most important part together, which is knowing you can depend on yourself and knowing that you are a fighter? And that you have answered those questions, and if that’s the case, then I would think that it is the case because that’s usually the normal progression for a guy, once he gets that, he can use it to progress and grow. If that’s the case, then it could be a little bit interesting. I still favor Floyd because of his speed, skillset, his experience, his confidence, and his style. The other guy is not as smooth in those areas and not as accomplished in those areas, but it can be a very interesting fight for Floyd to come back with the inactivity that you spoke about.
