Pacquiao dares Floyd: Stop talking, let’s fight

Fed up by Floyd Mayweather Jr’s claims that his boxing career is over, eight division world champion and Sarangani congressman Manny Pacquiao challenged the loud-mouthed American to a fight.

In an interview with the giant Philippine broadcast network ABS-CBN, Pacquiao said Mayweather “is all talk but short on action” as he urged the unbeaten pound-for-pound king to face him in the ring instead of resorting to cheap talk. He also described Mayweather as someone who “talks and talks but you don’t use your mouth in the ring.”

Mayweather (44-0, 26KOs), who is scheduled to face the popular Canelo Alvarez this September, has insisted during promo tours for the fight, that Pacquiao’s back-to-back losses to Timothy Bradley and Juan Manuel Marquez is a sign that the Filipino icon is a has been.

Pacquiao’s adviser Mike Koncz said that Mayweather’s statements about Pacquiao being finished is a sign of his “insecurity.”

“If he truly believes what he’s saying you’d think he’ll jump in to fight Manny, but he’s not because he’s scared he’ll lose,” added Koncz.

Pacquiao (54-5-2 38KOs) said that he is not yet finished and had only two words for Mayweather – “let’s fight” as he insisted that he handily won over Bradley and that Marquez only landed a lucky punch which resulted in a sixth-round knockout when they fought last December in Last Vegas.

“I got hit by a lucky punch, I was not beaten up,” Pacquiao, who will battle Brandon “Bam Bam” Rios in Macau on Nov. 23 said.

In an interview with the Macau Times, Pacquiao said he “feels very good physically and anticipates my fight with Brandon Rios to be the beginning of a new phase in my boxing career rather than an end.”

The Rios fight will also mark the first time that Pacquiao will set up training camp exclusively in his hometown of General Santos City instead of splitting his training camps between the Philippines and the Wild Card Gym of trainer Freddie Roach in Los Angeles.

Pacquiao said it’s more practical to train in the Philippines since he will be fighting in Macau which is less than two hours away by plane. He is confident that he would be ready for the charging Rios when they tangle exactly four months from now. /Sports Editor Rick Gabuya with philboxing.com