By James Slater: Superstar Floyd Mayweather Junior came face-to-face with reigning WBC welterweight champ Victor Ortiz today at a press conference in New York, and though the primary reason was of course to hype the September 17th fight, it was what Mayweather had to say about Manny Pacquiao that grabbed the headlines.
Mayweather praised Ortiz for “stepping up and taking the test,” and he also promised “a great fight.” Pretty soon, however, the 34-year-old turned his a attention to the reigning Pound-for-Pound king. What Floyd had to say certainly got the attention of those gathered today.
“Let me tell you this,” he said. “Floyd doesn’t duck or dodge no-one. For my fans and for the Manny Pacquiao fans, do I want the fight? Absolutely. If the fans want it, I want to give it to them. But one step at a time. I can‘t overlook Ortiz.”
The next step is the challenge of “Vicious” Victor, and some have labelled the upcoming fight a veritable mismatch. Ortiz naturally disagrees with those who say smaller man Mayweather will school him. However, whatever the WBC champ had to say, his comments were overshadowed by those of the unbeaten boxing master. And it was Floyd’s talk about Pac-Man that garnered most interest.
“I never once said Manny Pacquiao is cheating,” Mayweather said, in what some saw as a change of heart. “The only thing I said is this, me and any other opponent that I face must take the tests. It’s not just cheating in the sport of boxing [that I’m against], but it’s cheating in sports period. All you guys had to do is step up and say, ‘Both of you guys take the tests and let’s make it happen.’ That’s all.”
It seems, then, as though there will be no chance at all of Mayweather accepting the fight with Pac-Man unless Manny agrees to take the blood tests he is, and has been, demanding. Will this continue to be the sticking point that prevents the biggest fight in the sport today being made? We can only hope not. The good news, though, is what Mayweather said about the remainder of his career. “Money” said today he has no intentions of calling it a day.
“This is not my last fight,” Floyd said of the Ortiz bout. “ I want to stay active in the sport of boxing. Hopefully I can give you guys ten more fights. I may not be able to do, because I’m closer to 40 now than I am to 21.”
Mayweather added that he plans to “bring the pressure” and fight with Ortiz in the middle of the ring as opposed to using plenty of movement. We can only hope Mayweather sticks to his word and gives us a great action fight with Ortiz, but he has promised us “blood sweat and tears before;” only to box and move in a largely defensive manner. But who can blame Floyd for using his sublime skills instead of going to war?
As for those ten more fights; that looks highly unlikely. With this particular great, it is a case of enjoying him for as long as he is fighting.