Floyd Mayweather can leave a legacy of being an undefeated boxing champ or being the man who never fought the greatest rival of his era.
In a report by CBS Sports, Manny Pacquiao remains the biggest threat to Mayweather's unblemished 47-0 record. In the past few years, the two boxer have been dubbed as the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world. Fans have been asking for a dream fight between the two since 2009 but it seems like Mayweather is afraid to suffer his first loss.
Bob Arum, Top Rank promoter, cited that tarnishing his undefeated record is the number one reason why the American will not fight Pacquiao. He said to World Boxing News, "The real problem is that Mayweather is so damn smart when it comes to boxing and he realizes that of all the fighters fought and all the fighters out there that Manny poses the biggest threat. Why? Because Manny is fast, Manny can punch and Manny is left handed. Floyd never wants to fight a left handed fighter because his style is designed to fight orthodox fighters."
He continued, "So to get Mayweather in the ring with Pacquiao is a monumental task. Not because of splits, not because of money, because Manny stands the best chance of anybody that Floyd has faced to beat him."
In a report by International Business Times, a mega-bout between Pacquiao and Mayweather could rake in about $300 million, the biggest in boxing history. However, Mayweather might pass on the cash in favor of his 47-0 record.
Boxing expert Bert Sugar previously said in November 2011, "It will never happen. Mayweather is desperate to retire undefeated. He cares too much about his record to fight Pacquiao." He added that Pacquiao is "probably the greatest fighter I have seen in his style, in his weight class, since a fighter back in the 1930's, Henry Armstrong."
Pacquiao's coach, Freddie Roach, told Daily Mail in April 2014, "Floyd's main concern has become keeping that 0 [for zero losses] on his record. I don't see him taking any real risk of losing that before the end of next year, when he says he's retiring." He added, "It's not that he's afraid of Manny. No fighters are scared of anybody in the world. It's just that he believes if he goes out undefeated he will be seen as better than greats like Sugar Ray Robinson, who had losses on their records."
Although talks surfaced of a Mayweather-Pacquiao match in 2015, Amir Khan will most likely be Mayweather's next foe.