Floyd Mayweather Jr. defeated Marcos Maidana Saturday night by unanimous decision, and attention has naturally turned to his next opponent. There are no obvious candidates this early, but Manny Pacquiao is never far from fans' minds when it comes to Mayweather.
Immediately after fighting Maidana, Mayweather didn't give his typical dismissive answer regarding Top Rank's highest-profile fighter.
"I got to go back and talk to my team, I'm not ducking or dodging no opponent," Mayweather said. "If a Pacquiao fight presents itself, let's make it happen."
Top Rank CEO Bob Arum, whom Mayweather has stated consistently he will never work with again, has been insisting a Mayweather-Pacquiao fight isn't dead.
"Both networks want this fight to happen. All signs seem to point to the fight happening early next year," Arum said earlier this month, while adding pressure on Mayweather to move quickly.
"There is a sell-by date, where it becomes 'Who cares?' It has to happen by the first six months of next year. And if it happens, there should be a provision with a different percentage for the rematch. So that the winner is rewarded for winning the fight. I would love to see these guys fight twice next year."
On Sunday morning though, Mayweather went a step further than denying he'd fight Pacquiao-he didn't respond to a question about it.
"We had a tremendous show tonight. I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that we did good numbers. I want to thank everybody that tuned in and bought on pay-per-view, and everybody who covered this fight. Without you guys, Floyd Mayweather wouldn't be where he is today, so I'm very, very grateful."
Discussions can't happen in earnest until after November 22, when Pacquiao is slated to face Chris Algieri in Macau, China. Algieri is the WBO junior welterweight champion, and this will be his first fight at 147 lbs.
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