Pacman: Mayweather has nowhere to run

GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines – Boxing champion Manny Pacquiao has vowed to chase Floyd Mayweather Jr. into ring submission after his US rival offered to fight him next year in a blockbuster world title face-off.

“He has reached a dead end. He has nowhere to run but to fight me,” Pacquiao said Saturday, hours after the undefeated Mayweather issued the May 2 challenge on US television.

However, Pacquiao apparently didn’t get too excited about the statements Mayweather made the other day. He said his rival was the key for the fight to push through, recalling past ridiculous demands.

The two were long-time rivals as the “best pound-for-pound” boxers of their generation, but the dream fight has never materialized to the disappointment of the boxing world.

“I will try my best to (make) this a thrilling and entertaining fight. But I doubt if he’s gonna engage me in a slugfest,” said Pacquiao, winner of an unprecedented eight world titles in different weight classes.

“You all know his fighting style. Most of his previous fights, if not all, induced us to sleep,” Pacquiao said here.

Should the fight happen, Pacquiao, who turns 36 on Wednesday, said he will do to Mayweather what he did to another previously undefeated American, Chris Algieri, who lost to the World Boxing Organization welterweight champion in Macau last month.

“I know what I have to do. I will chase him wherever he goes just in case he decides to run around the ring. We will devise a good fight plan,” Pacquiao added.

Speaking to Showtime Sports in the US on Friday night, Mayweather, 37, said he wants his next fight to be against the Filipino star.

However, the American nicknamed “Money” said – without giving details – the expected richest fight in boxing history will only happen if he receives a much bigger share of the purse than his opponent.

He called Pacquiao “desperate” then pointed to promoter Bob Arum as the reason why the fight hasn’t happened when it’s the one everybody wants to see.

Mayweather said there’s no way Pacquiao can get an even share of the purse, which could amount to hundreds of millions, because the Filipino lost two in a row in 2012.

In 2012 there was speculation that a fight between the two could lead to the first $200 million purse in boxing history with much of that money coming from pay-per-view sales.

At one point Pacquiao said Mayweather offered him a $40 million purse on the condition the American would keep the pay-per-view money, which would have amounted to more than double what Pacquiao received.

Previous talks were also scuttled because Mayweather says Pacquiao refused to submit to random blood testing.

“Mayweather can get the amount he wants. As early as January this year, I challenged him to a charity fight. Until now, he has not agreed to it. So, money is not the issue in our fight,” Pacquiao said Saturday.

Pacquiao is now on a three-fight win streak and only last Nov. 23 he floored Algieri six times en route to a lopsided but entertaining decision.

Mayweather, on the other hand, doesn’t care whom Pacquiao beats. To him what matters is that he’s undefeated in 47 fights and Pacquiao is 3-2 the last two years and 57-5-2 overall.

The two boxing superstars are getting old and many believe that if the fight doesn’t happen in 2015 no one would care if it happens later on.

Pacquiao is an old champion. On Wednesday he turns 36. But Mayweather is even older. On Feb. 24 he turns 38. Together, they are 74 years old.

“We are ready. Let’s make it happen. Let’s do it,” Mayweather told Showtime.

“This fight is about legacy, this is about making the fans happy and, above all, this is for the good of boxing,” Pacquiao said in reply to the challenge.

Is he really ready?

Pacquiao had always been ready. He thinks Mayweather is the only person in the world who can make the fight happen.

“Just do it. Don’t say it,” Pacquiao said in his native language.

Unless serious negotiations begin, there’s nothing concrete about Mayweather’s latest statements.

Pacquiao welcomed visitors to his Forbes Park mansion the other day, and at around 1 a.m. he was in an animated chess match with ex-basketball pro Zaldy Realubit.

A dozen men stood around Pacquiao as he played his other favorite sport other than boxing and basketball.

He hardly talked about Mayweather.

But in an ambush interview earlier in the day, Pacquiao dared Mayweather to sign the contract and “make it happen.”

“Huwag puro salita. Pumirma na siya (Don’t just talk. Sign the contract), he said.

“Basta mag-usap muna (Let’s talk). Mahirap kung mag-usap eh,” Pacquiao added.

Mayweather wants the fight under his terms. He will ask for a good chunk of the purse and will most likely get it. He will have his way on the weight, date, venue, gloves, even the color of the trunks.

He will want everything in his favor.

Yet, Pacquiao doesn’t mind as long as the fight takes place.

“I’m not after material things,” added Pacquiao, who once said he’d fight Mayweather for charity.

Mayweather holds the key to the fight. 

Yahoo! Sports called the idea of the fight happening in May a “pipe dream.”

Right now it is.  – Abac Cordero