“Maybe there is more of a push for Pacquiao to be more open to this fight being made. There are things that he has to be open to and maybe now is the time for him to be open to them…As far as Floyd goes, look, I know the undefeated record is important to his legacy and I understand that, but maybe at this point of his career, that window that I talked about that these athletes have and obviously fighters have that starts to close, he’s aware of that too,” stated world-class trainer and ESPN commentator Teddy Atlas, who shared his thoughts on the likelihood of a showdown between undefeated pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather and 8-division world champion Manny Pacquiao. Check it out!
TEDDY ATLAS ON MAYWEATHER VS. PACQUIAO CHANCES:
I think the right way to put it for me is, the right timing for the fight was 5 years ago as far as the fans go, as far as seeing the best they had to offer, as far as the best athletic performance that they could offer themselves and the best place they could be from an athletic and physical standpoint and mental standpoint. I think that opportunity was 5 years ago or maybe a little longer. That was the time to see that fight, but it might be the best time to see the fight now mainly because of the position they are in now in terms of both guys winding down in their careers. They are both getting to the twilight of their career, especially Pacquiao. Maybe he needs it monetarily because sounds like he’s got problems, which I hope not and it’s sad if that’s true that he has money problems owing taxes in his country. Maybe if that’s true, and I hope it’s not, maybe now because of that, the emergency and necessity that comes with it, maybe now that gives reason for him to maybe give in to certain quotas and demands to make the fight. He may have to give in to certain areas to make it and this would give him more of a reason to do that. Maybe there is emergency to do it, I don’t know. Also, he knows he’s getting closer to the end and closing in on a career. Everything that we do, especially athletically, there is a window for athletes and fighters to perform and that window starts to close, so maybe because of all of those things that I mentioned, maybe there is more of a push for Pacquiao to be more open to this fight being made. There are things that he has to be open to and maybe now is the time for him to be open to them.
As far as Floyd goes, look, I know the undefeated record is important to his legacy and I understand that, but maybe at this point of his career, that window that I talked about that these athletes have and obviously fighters have that starts to close, he’s aware of that too. And he’s starting to wind down. He’s getting to that place where he’s gotta shut it down at some point. And you understand that and your body tells you that and the clock tells you. When you think about his legacy, besides the undefeated part of it, you wonder the train of thought also of how is he gonna be remembered and his place in history if he doesn’t finish with that career fight. The reason we still talk about Ali is because Ali had Frazier and he had Foreman. You know, Floyd hasn’t really had either one of those types of guys; that career defining partner fight. That fight that is very important for you to have because not only does it take you to another level, but your name is forever synonymous to that fighter that served as your opponent or rival or whatever you want to call it. He hasn’t had that. He hasn’t had that person in his career and in his life, and Pacquiao would give him that, even if it is, I think, 5, 6 to 7 years too late to see the best of the two. But still, that would give him that name; that would give him that fight for that part of his legacy if that’s important to him. It would also add a few zeros to his bank account. I know he’s got a good amount of zeros to that account, but it wouldn’t hurt to add some more zeros and he can do it in other ways too with other fighters, with less prominent fighters with less prominent names, but he can do it a lot faster with somebody named Pacquiao. I wonder how much that interests him and possibly entices him into thinking like that.
It’s to the point now where there is really not a lot of interesting names out there that excites me to see him fight and I don’t think excites the public. I think I could speak for the public a little bit. And I don’t think Amir Khan…that really don’t interest me. I don’t think it will interest the public either outside of a place called London, England. If it was there, then okay, but that’s a different interest. That’s more of national pride and rooting for somebody that’s your countrymen. That’s different! But as far as your average fight fan that needs to be enticed by a fight, I don’t think the Khan’s out there and the other names that are out there now for Floyd interest anybody or excites anybody. I don’t even think they interest Floyd anymore for that matter. I don’t think any of those names will add to his bankroll or really excite him. So if he truly does have what most good fighters have, that great competitive pride and spirit and fire, then maybe he is thinking about that part of his legacy, to go out with that defining fight. And if that’s the case, then again, it might be a little late as far as seeing the best physical fighters in the ring, but it might be the best time for that fight to happen and the best opportunity for that fight to happen because of other reasons and some of the reasons I just spoke about as far as where both fighters are at now.
