Floyd Mayweather Jr has every reason to proclaim himself the best boxer in his generation.
He has an immaculate record, a fat pay per view appeal, a loud mouth and most of all ? he is an American.
Now, if he can only walk the talk and agree to fight Filipino energy bunny Manny Pacquiao, lingering doubts about his legacy will forever be erased in the minds of his detractors.
Mayweather has been derided for refusing to face the best competition during his and their primes. Remember how he evaded Shane Mosely more than five years ago. He refused popular clamor to fight Miguel Cotto when the latter was still undefeated. Of course, he disappeared when Paul Williams? name was put on the table. And who could forget Antonio Margarito who was, long time ago, the most feared among welterweights.
True, Floyd was the most dominant lightweight during his time fighting the likes of Jose Luis Castillo and Diego Corrales. Trouble is, none of them are first ballot worthy Hall of Famers. In fact, Floyd only got to fight and defeat a couple or two hands down Hall of Fame bound welterweights by the time he stepped up in weight. Sadly, Floyd fought welterweights Oscar de la Hoya and Shane Mosley when the two were past their primes. You can make an argument about Juan Manuel Marquez but he was a bloated lightweight and Floyd even sacrificed USD600,000 in order to come up heavier than the contracted weight limit.
In contrast, Manny Pacquiao once undisputed pound for pound king, has seen and fought them all, in all weight classes.
Marco Antonio Barrera, Erik Morales and Juan Manuel Marquez were the best in their divisions when Pacquiao fought them not only once but twice (Barrera and Marquez) and even thrice (Morales).
He clobbered Oscar de la Hoya into submission at the end of the eighth round something Mayweather failed to do so and against whom the American might have been awarded a disputable split decision win.
It took Floyd ten rounds to dispatch Briton Ricky Hatton and only two for Pacquiao.
While Floyd opted to retire rather than face Miguel Angel Cotto, Manny took the challenge and stopped the Puerto Rican in the twelfth round.
Well, Floyd can point to his lopsided win over Marquez against whom Manny has been tested to the hilt. But that did little to prove he is better than Manny.
Floyd says he is the better boxer than Manny and that he could knock out the Filipino boxing icon. He says he is the bigger draw and that all roads lead to him.
So why take a detour and put roadblocks at the crossroads of their paths?
Time to walk the talk Floyd.
Don?t duck Manny.
Don?t look, squeak, and wiggle like a duck.
You are not an ugly duckling, I believe.
