Op-Ed: Mayweather to Prove he is the Greatest with Victory over Pacquiao

Floyd Mayweather Jr. may be concerned about preserving his unblemished boxing record by fighting less capable boxers but some boxing fans say that he cannot be called the greatest fighter on the planet without first beating Pacquiao.

Floyd Mayweather, Jr. is out to prove to the world that he is the greatest boxer on the planet with a victory over the current pound-for-pound king Manny Pacquiao. The Pacquiao camp have raised the stakes with Floyd Mayweather Jr by insisting he is scared the Filipino would ruin his unbeaten record if the two meet in a pound-for-pound battle the boxing world is crying out for, sportinglife reports. Pacquiao's promoter Bob Arum says Mayweather is more concerned about preserving his unbeaten record than facing Pacquiao in the ring.

Now this is me being an amateur psychologist, but Mayweather is so tied up with the fact that nobody has beaten him, that he has a zero on his record, I don't know if he would be willing to go into the ring with anybody that could jeopardise that zero.

He is afraid of losing that zero, Arum added. Some boxing observers say that Mayweather is better off fighting less credible boxers than facing Pacquiao head on. The reason is obvious - Mayweather wants to preserve the 'zero' in his boxing record. And if he is to fight Manny Pacquiao, he may not be able to preserve his unblemished professional boxing record. On the other hand, Mayweather cannot ignore the huge revenue his fight with Pacquiao will bring into the table. Mayweather may have to fight twice or even more to get the amount of money that the Pacquiao-Mayweather match will bring into his coffers. In the end Mayweather will have to show the world that he is the greatest and the best pound-for-pound boxer on the planet. There is only one way to do it - beat Pacquiao