MANILA, Philippines – Former pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. again took a swipe at international boxing star Manny Pacquiao, questioning the Filipino’s stature among boxing greats.
In a conference call about his upcoming fight against “Sugar” Shane Mosley, the controversial boxer downplayed Pacquiao’s sensational victories over Puerto Rico’s Miguel Cotto and Britain’s Ricky Hatton.
“He beat a Miguel Cotto who got pummeled with a cast and he beat a Ricky Hatton that got stretched by me… That’s not for me to put him in the Hall of Fame,” Mayweather said in a report posted on boxing.fighthype.com.
The Filipino stopped Cotto in 12 rounds last November to win the World Boxing Organization (WBO) welterweight title, his 7th in 7 weight classes.
Prior to facing Cotto, Pacquiao knocked out Hatton in just 2 rounds. It took Mayweather 10 rounds to stop the bull strong Briton.
The Boxing Writers Association of America thus picked the Filipino over Mayweather, Bernard Hopkins, Joe Calzaghe, Shane Mosley, Juan Manuel Marquez and Marco Antonio Barrera as the Fighter of the Decade.
Analysts also compared Pacquiao to the late boxing great Henry Armstrong, who simultaneously held world titles in 3 three different divisions.
The undefeated Mayweather also said that unlike him, the Filipino has suffered losses in his professional career, aside from struggling against counter punching expert Juan Manuel Marquez.
“Manny Pacquiao struggled twice, which we really know he got beat, struggled twice with Marquez, which we know he really lost. Right? And we know he been knocked out twice and he got outboxed by Erik Morales, but then they still give him Boxer of the Decade. So that’s another thing I don’t understand,” said Mayweather.
Read more at ABS-CBN News
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