Mayweather says he’s not ‘ducking anyone,’ calls Pacquiao ‘desperate’

Manny Pacquiao. AP FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Pound-for-pound king Floyd Mayweather Jr. has finally responded to Manny Pacquiao as talks of a megafight between the two boxing legends heat up anew.

Talks of a fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao have been going on and off for several years. And recently, Pacquiao has been very vocal during his interviews about making the bout happen.

Mayweather too, has expressed the same interest and even set a possible date for the showdown in an interview on Showtime’s Shobox series.

“Absolutely, I would love to fight Manny Pacquiao,” Mayweather said as posted on boxingscene.com.

“Now it’s time for us to talk, we want to fight. Let’s make it happen. May 2, Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao, let’s do it.”

Mayweather also took a jab at Pacquiao by calling him “desperate” after suffering a couple setbacks two years ago.

“We tried to make the fight happen years ago. Now he’s in a very tight situation. He’s lost to Marquez. He’s lost to Bradley. He’s desperate,” Mayweather said. “I’ve been wanting that fight a long time ago. We have to make the fight happen on Showtime.”

The 35-year-old Pacquiao had a winless campaign in 2012 following losses to Timothy Bradley in a controversial decision and Juan Manuel Marquez via knockout in their fourth meeting.

But since, Pacquiao has redeemed himself with a string of dominating victories. He had a successful return to the ring after his brutal sixth round KO at the hands of Marquez with a masterful win over Brandon Rios before leaving no room for any doubt in a rematch with Bradley. And just last month, he proved he can still pack a punch after decking Chris Algieri six times in a unanimous decision win.
The WBO welterweight champion claimed Mayweather has avoided fighting him over the years.

But the unbeaten American denied those statements and instead pointed the finger at Pacquiao’s camp as to why negotiations about their anticipated showdown never materialized.

“Floyd Mayweather is not ducking or dodging any opponent. Bob Arum is stopping the fight,” Mayweather said in response to Pacquiao’s claims. “We have been trying to make the fight happen, behind the scenes, for years now. The fans and the people have been fooled because they have been listening to people on just one side.”

“Before we tried to make the fight happen and you guys didn’t want to take random blood and urine testing,” Mayweather said. “So that’s why the fight didn’t happen. Then I offered you $40 million and you didn’t want to make the fight happen. Then you lost twice and now you’re coming back begging for the same money. That’s not going to happen. ”

A clash between two of the sport’s greatest could go down as the richest fight in boxing history — that is as if both camps will be able to find any common ground.