Mayweather Admits to Ducking Manny Pacquiao in 2009:
Boxing fans finally have confirmation of what many of them have so vehemently believed for years – that Floyd Mayweather was ducking Manny Pacquiao.
“Hell no I didn’t want to fight Pacquiao after he whooped Cotto,” Mayweather said in an exclusive interview with ProBoxing-Fans.com, referring to Pacquiao’s November 2009 clash with Miguel Cotto. Pacquiao stopped Cotto in the 12th round of that bout, picking up his welterweight title in the process.
“The drug testing stuff, the feud with [Bob] Arum… I mean, yea, I hate that guy, but it was a plan, a blueprint.
“The plan was for me to stay unbeaten, become the biggest star in the sport, and wait for Pacquiao to lose in the meantime. I knew it would happen, and it did.
“Listen, it’s not that I was scared of Pacquiao man. I’ve been fighting in the ring since I was 2. It’s just that I didn’t want to do it.
“Cotto took a real beating in that fight, he probably didn’t recover for years. It wasn’t something I needed to do, and I didn’t need Pacquiao to help my legacy. I already have my legacy, period.”
Pacquiao’s victory over Cotto is still hailed as one of the most impressive of his career, and it’s the fight that really created the initial push to see a Pacquiao vs. Mayweather clash at 147 lbs. Let’s look back at the timeline:
- December 2008: Pacquiao retires Oscar De La Hoya in his 1st fight above the lightweight division
- May 2009: Pacquiao crushes Ricky Hatton in the 2nd round, outdoing Mayweather’s 10th round TKO victory over the Hitman
- September 2009: Mayweather returns to the ring after a two-year hiatus, dominates Pacquiao-rival Marquez
- December 2009: Pacquiao destroys Cotto, establishing himself as a legitimate welterweight
These are the big events which produced the urge to see Pacquiao vs. Mayweather, and at any point after Pacquiao’s win over Cotto and before his 2012 loss to Juan Manuel Marquez, it would have been not only the biggest fight of the generation, but one of the grandest in recent boxing history.
Except, it was never going to happen. Mayweather simply never had any intention of agreeing to the fight.
Here’s more of what he had to say:
“Mosley, Ortiz and the rest of them guys were easy work. The Money Team knew that from the get go. Me and Ellerbe don’t make stupid, high-risk decisions like that. Dollars make sense, period.”
When asked whether or not he regrets the decision to avoid Pacquiao, Mayweather couldn’t help but laugh before answering.
“Are you kidding me? Look at me now, and look at him.
“He got laid out face-first on the canvas by Marquez, a guy that didn’t even deserve to be in the ring with me.
“I bet he’d love a share of my money now, but it still ain’t gonna happen. Never gonna happen. He doesn’t hold a chance anymore, but he’s just not worth it. I’ll let Bradley or Marquez take care of him again and we’ll see who really gets the last laugh.
“I’ll retire undefeated, untouchable, greatest to ever lace ’em up!”
It’s a startling admission from Mayweather, and something which is going to send shock waves through the sport. Of course, for millions of Pacquiao fans around the globe, they finally get to tell the rest of us… “I told you so!”
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