Pacquiao showdown still no closer for Mayweather

LAS VEGAS, (Reuters) – Floyd Mayweather was reluctant  to commit to a mega-fight with Filipino Manny Pacquiao after  embellishing his unbeaten record by outclassing fellow American  Shane Mosley in a welterweight bout on Saturday.

Boxing fans have savoured the prospect of a  Mayweather-Pacquiao showdown, if only to decide the mythical  title of the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter.

Mayweather had been expected to meet Pacquiao earlier this  year until negotiations collapsed over the American’s demand  for random drug testing. Mosley then stepped in to take the Filipino’s place.

“If Manny takes the (blood) test, we can make the fight  happen,” Mayweather told a news conference after completing a  unanimous points victory over Mosley at the MGM Grand Garden  Arena.

“If he doesn’t, we don’t have a fight. If Manny Pacquaiao  wants to fight, it is not hard to find me.

“I’m not going out chasing fighters,” added Mayweather, who  surrendered his tag as the best pound-for-pound boxer to  Pacquiao during a 21-month retirement from the sport that ended  only in September.

“If the fans want to see that happen, I want to make it  happen but we have to have a level playing field. If every  athlete is clean in the sport of boxing, take the test.”

Mayweather did, however, express interest in another  possible opponent in a higher weight class —  light-middleweight and middleweight champion Sergio Martinez of  Argentina.

“I thought about that,” said Mayweather, who improved his  career record to 41-0 with 25 knockouts. “As of right now, I  don’t know what I’m going to do. All I want to do is go home  and relax.”

DOUBLE SURPRISE

Mayweather has certainly earned quality relaxation time  with his family after delivering two surprises for the boxing  fans at the MGM Grand on Saturday.

Known for his flamboyant showmanship, Mayweather produced  the first with a spectacular arrival in the ring before  providing the second with an aggressive style of boxing very  rarely seen from him before.

After a lengthy build-up to the fight, Mosley, wearing a  black robe with blue and white trim, approached the ring with  Eminem’s “Till I collapse” as his musical accompaniment.

Mayweather, who is nicknamed ‘Money’, then followed in his  trademark dramatic style.

While the O’Jays classic “For the Love of Money” was sung  by four men walking ahead of him, he advanced to the ring  wearing black fur and red leather with fireworks going off and  costumed clowns on stilts showering the fans with money.

“I love to give the fans something different,” said the  33-year-old, who is boxing’s biggest box office draw. “I always  like to something different up my sleeve.”

Renowned as the best defensive fighter of his generation,  Mayweather went on to surprise the sellout crowd, and Mosley,  with a much more aggressive strategy than had been expected.

“There was a point to prove, to see who was the best  welterweight out there,” Mayweather said after dominating 11 of  the 12 rounds.

“Everyone was talking about how Mosley is stronger, how  Mosley is faster. I rocked him more than he rocked me.

“After a while I think Mosley went into survival mode. All  he was trying to do was survive.”