- ‘Money’ tops prestigious list of greatest boxers of all time, with the Filipino icon in second place
- But Pacquiao’s resurgence is driving Mayweather ‘a little bonkers’ says the fighting senator’s confidante
Floyd Mayweather was his usual braggadocious self after edging Manny Pacquiao in a list of the greatest fighters of all time published by BoxRec this week. But the Filipino is inside the unbeaten American's head, according to Pacquiao's camp.
"Numbers don't lie and boxrec told the truth. It is what it is," Mayweather wrote in an Instagram post accompanying the popular boxing website's top 25 list.
Pacquiao is a distant second on 1,633 points in BoxRec's judging system behind Mayweather, who has 2,255 points. But Sean Gibbons, president of Pacquiao's MP Promotions, says the fighting senator's resurgence in the ring is getting under Mayweather's skin.
"The senator's legacy is rolling and rolling and that's driving Floyd a little bonkers and mad ever since they fought in 2015," Gibbons said at Tuesday's PSA Forum in Manila.
"At 40 years old, he is creating history. He's doing things that are unprecedented at the welterweight division. Nobody has done what he's done recently " beating a 30-year-old Keith Thurman."
Gibbons said last week Pacquiao has turned down a rematch with Thurman, whom he beat by split decision on July 20 to claim the WBA "super"welterweight title, because "we want Mayweather".
"I wish I could give you the answers. The only answer is that Floyd Mayweather knows," Gibbons said of a potential rematch.
"The senator (Pacquiao) doesn't base his life around Mayweather, but Floyd Mayweather seems to base his life around the senator now. Everywhere the senator goes, he has to somehow tag (along) or when I was in the ring for the fight with Keith Thurman, I looked over and I saw Floyd Mayweather and I was like, 'What's Floyd Mayweather doing here?'
"He's a big fan of the senator, he comes to all of his fights. We appreciate that. We'll let things unfold, let's see what happens."
Meanwhile, UFC president Dana White has claimed a rematch between Pacquiao and Mayweather is "inevitable".
"He's awesome. I think it's incredible (what Pacquiao is doing)," White told Fight Hub TV. "I think him and Floyd is probably inevitable. It's probably going to happen."
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