Following a clear win over Brandon Rios in Macau China on Saturday, Manny Pacquiao and Freddie Roach are beating the drum for Floyd Mayweather Jr. to settle the unending debate over who would win a battle of boxing titans.
Mayweather's struggling to find an interesting opponent, and while Pacquiao's star is diminished from its peak light he still provides more name value than any of his other prospective combatants.
Showtime boxing exec Stephen Espinoza is convinced Floyd's next opponent needs to be someone with elite hand speed, which led to Amir Khan taking the lead. Pacquiao though presents similar if not superior hand speed, and a resume worthy of facing the pound-for-pound king.
"Mayweather in his last two fights has been slow, he doesn't move as much as he used to. I think Manny's speed will overwhelm him. Mayweather is not good against southpaws. And he has trouble with speed," Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach said.
Pacquiao is still far more likely to take on Timothy Bradley or Juan Manuel Marquez in his next fight, hoping to look impressive to grease the wheels even further for a Floyd fight. Marquez has expressed unwillingness to face Manny again, claiming to have "closed the book" on their storied rivalry.
Bradley just beat Marquez, and no doubt wants to erase the cloud of suspicion over his career-defining victory against Pacman in their first meeting. "I'm a very high-ranked fighter right now. I've paid my dues. I've definitely paid my dues," Bradley said. "After this Marquez fight, I have a bigger fan base. We definitely have to talk, and get the business side right. I wouldn't mind exercising my right to go to Asia where he wants to fight."
That still leaves Khan as the frontrunner for a Mayweather payday, unless The Money Team has changed their opinion of Danny Garcia as a marquee opponent.
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