Floyd Mayweather Jr. debunked Manny Pacquiao's present status as boxing's best fighter, pound-for-pound, insisting, among other things, that the 2009 Fighter Of The Year's consecutive knockouts over Oscar De La Hoya and Ricky Hatton were against foes he had already exposed.
"Once again, when I beat those guys, it wasn't nothing. But when [Pacquiao] beat them, 'Oh, it's so unbelievable,' and, 'We've never seen something so crazy,'" said Mayweather, 32, in response to questions from FanHouse during a recent conference call. "They're commentating and they've never been in the heat of battle."
Mayweather (39-0, 25 knockouts), who retired after a 10th-round stoppage of England's Hatton in December of 2007, will end a near two-year layoff when he enters the ring on Sept. 19 opposite Juan Manuel Marquez, a 36-year-old former champion with a record of 50-4 with 37 knockouts.
Marquez, who will be competing at his highest weight ever when he meets Mayweather at their catchweight of 144 pounds, at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, has twice faced Pacquiao (49-3, 37 KOs) of the Phillipines.
They battled to a draw in May of 2004 after Marquez was knocked down three times in the first round, and Marquez lost a decision during their second meeting in March of 2008.
Marquez is coming off of consecutive stoppages of former champs, Joel Casamayor and Juan Diaz, in 11 and nine rounds respectively, while weighing 135 and 134.5 in those bouts.
In an exclusive interview from Mexico City on Tuesday, Marquez told Fanhouse that he weighed 143 pounds. Pacquiao will meet World Boxing Organization welterweight king, Miguel Cotto (34-1, 27 KOs) on Nov. 14 at the MGM Grand.
But Mayweather has taken heat unfairly for choosing to return to the ring against what is considered an aging, smaller man in Marquez, a Mexico City native and former featherweight (125 pounds) and superfeatherweight (130).
Long resentful at the boxing media for discounting his status as the sport's premiere player, Mayweather believes he should receive credit for facing a man Pacquiao already has beaten just as the Filipino has in defeating De La Hoya and Hatton.
Mayweather was at a career-high 150 pounds when dethroned 154-pound De La Hoya as World Boxing Council light middleweight champion in May of 2007.
That victory came seven months before becoming the first man to knock out Hatton, who lost for the first time in 44 bouts. Hatton had just come off of a fourth-round knockout of Jose Luis Castillo.
Mayweather, meanwhile, contended that Pacquiao's KOs -- in eight, and, two rounds, respectively -- were against one man who was physically drained from weight loss in De La Hoya, and another, in Hatton, who was in transition from a brawling style to that of a boxer.
"De La Hoya was more comfortable at 154 when he fought me. When he fought Pacquiao, he was basically on a diet," Mayweather said of De La Hoya, who weighed 145 pounds against Pacquiao's 142. "De La Hoya was training to lose weight instead of training to fight."
Hatton was in only his second bout under longtime De La Hoya trainer, Floyd Mayweather Sr. -- known for teaching boxing technique and head movement -- after having split with longtime trainer, Billy Graham.
"Hatton was switching styles. I think that his head was straight up in the air. [Plus,] once you've been knocked out, there's no doubt that you can get knocked out again," said Mayweather.
"I sit back and ask myself questions like, 'Where was this guy Pacquiao when I was dominating in the 90s?'" Mayweather said. "But where would I be if I didn't have my critics, huh?," Mayweather asked. "Where would I be?"
Source: boxing.fanhouse.com
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