Holyfield urges Mayweather to fight Pacquiao

MANILA, Philippines – Former world heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield dared Floyd Mayweather Jr. to face Manny Pacquiao in what has already been a long-overdue fight.

Holyfield, best known for his showdowns with fellow stars Mike Tyson and Lennox Lewis during the last glory days of the heavyweight division, warned Mayweather that not fighting Pacquiao would result in a big asterisk in his legacy.

 "If Floyd retires without doing the super fight with Manny Pacquiao then I wouldn't think of him as a champion. Champions accept any fight put in front of them. But if Mayweather does the fight – win or lose – he will be an all time great and a true champion in my book,” he recently wrote in a Facebook post, as reported by Scoop Malinowski of ringobserver.com.

Mayweather provided a glimmer of hope to the elusive megabout after declaring he’s open to meet Pacquiao in what is expected to be the richest fight in boxing history. The undefeated American outpointed Marcos Maidana in their rematch last Sunday and has probably no other choice but to fight the Filipino icon.

Pacquiao, meanwhile, needs to get past Chris Algieri on Nov. 23 in order to keep the Mayweather fight alive. The fighter who fondly calls himself “Money” earlier said he will retire from boxing in 2015 and is looking at fighting two more times.

Holyfield, for his part, hopes one of those bouts will finally be against Pacquiao.

“And I am sure he (Mayweather) would have all the respect from all boxing fans around the world. And he would silence all the critics. But retiring without doing this dream fight that fans have wanted to see for a very long time would be ridiculous," wrote Holyfield, who knocked out James “Buster” Douglas in 1990 to become the undisputed heavyweight champion.

Holyfield, 51, retired in 2012 after compiling a record of 44-10-2, with 29 knockouts.