Floyd Mayweather’s first reaction after his 43rd victory in a career that has never tasted defeat was to say that he wanted to give fans their wish and fight Manny Pacquiao later this year.
Mayweather has made it known – in public, at least – that he will fight Pacquiao if he agrees to the same terms as the recently vanquished Miguel Cotto.
After Mayweather’s 90-day stint in prison and Pacman’s fight against Timothy Bradley, their match-up now has to happen.
Both fighters will always be remembered for failing to front up to one another if they don’t get in the ring.
Mayweather put in another majestic performance against a tough combatant in Cotto. The Puerto Rican put on a gutsy display, pushing Mayweather to the limit, despite anything that HBO’s commentators said before, during and after an allegedly “one-sided bout”.
In the end, the cool head of Mayweather ruled the heart of Cotto. It was close heading into the last three rounds, but Mayweather pulled away. He looked fitter, faster and chose his shots well. The former WBA super champ was the aggressive party, and took the fight to Mayweather, but more often than not the 35-year-old had a reply.
Cotto had his success, and in round six even drew blood from Mayweather’s nose; it was a rare sight as the usually untouchable ‘pretty boy’ can usually avoid that kind of onslaught.
As the rounds progressed Mayweather’s defence improved and his movement escaped a tiring Cotto.
Both men will get plaudits: Cotto for pushing Mayweather to the limit, and Mayweather for keeping his unbeaten record intact and claiming yet another world title. One thing Pacquiao will have on his side of the argument should the two parties meet later this year is that he stopped Cotto.
Pacquiao still has Bradley in his way before any meeting can take place. That outcome is not a foregone conclusion, especially after his last two outings have failed to be as clinical as he would have hoped. Many even believed he should have lost his last fight to Juan Manuel Marquez. A big victory over Bradley would probably see his camp demand even terms in any potential meeting.
The message from the fans is just fight. It would be the biggest PPV event ever, and undoubtedly if Pacquiao was to win next month the match-up would be bigger than it has ever been.
Both would have beaten everybody else. The two have at times been in a league of their own, but if it doesn’t happen in 2012, the legitimacy of who is the best would be in question. A 36-year-old Mayweather would face off against Pacquiao at 34.
This fight needs to happen next.
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