Mayweather Jr. Calls Out Pacquiao to Welterweight Fight of the Century

After Manny Pacquiao completed his thorough 12-round destruction of former WBO Welterweight Champion of the World Miguel Cotto last Saturday, the lone thought on the minds of boxing purists around the world was whether or not the long-awaited super-fight between Pacquiao and undefeated Floyd Mayweather Jr. would finally occur. When Pacquiao was asked by HBO ring announcer Larry Merchant as to whether or not he wanted to fight Mayweather next, he immediately responded by saying that it was up to his promoter, Bob Arum.

According to Fox News, the brash and extremely confident Mayweather has called out Pacquiao on Wednesday in a seven-paragraph written statement that reads, "Manny Pacquiao is the fighter and every time someone asks him if he wants to fight me, he says it is up to his promoter. I have yet to hear him actually say, 'yes I want to fight Mayweather.' Manny Pacquiao doesn't say anything directly about fighting me because he might just know it's not a fight he can win."

The undefeated Mayweather, who is a six-time world champion in five different weight classes, showed in his statement that his confident demeanor has not been affected whatsoever by his one-and-a-half year hiatus from the sport. He went on to say, "There is boxing and then there is me. The rest are just falling in line behind me or are trying to get in line to fight me. And that includes Manny Pacquiao too."

Mayweather also showed that he did not experience any ring rust and that his world class abilities have not faded whatsoever in his September victory over highly respected Juan Manuel Marquez. The biggest potential roadblock involved with a fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao, who is a seven-time world champion in six different weight classes, is Bob Arum's long running feud with Mayweather and his advisor, Al Haymon.