\u201cLadies, it\u2019s a whole lot better being in this fancy hot tub in my Las Vegas mansion than in a sweaty arena, isn\u2019t it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cYeees,\u201d gushed all but one.<\/p>\n
\t\u201cYou should be there,\u201d said a lovely young woman. \u201cYou need to prepare to fight the winner, who\u2019s going to be Manny Pacquiao.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWho\u2019re you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m Raquel from Manila.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho invited you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\t \u201cOne of your assistants.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tFloyd frowned and looked at a couple of employees guarding the entrance. They shook their heads. <\/p>\n
\t\u201cGuaranteed, Timothy Bradley will handle Pacquiao again,\u201d Floyd said. <\/p>\n
\t\u201cManny in fact handled him the first time, which I\u2019m sure you know, and will again. He\u2019s too quick and strong for Bradley.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cLet\u2019s keep it real. Pacquiao lost to Bradley, who\u2019d I\u2019d easily beat, and against Juan Manuel Marquez he really lost those two gift decisions he got, along with the draw, before Marquez destroyed him in their fourth fight. I beat Marquez so bad he flat out said he never wanted a rematch.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cSince you\u2019re a leader in the war against performance enhancing drugs,\u201d said Raquel, \u201cI\u2019m surprised you haven\u2019t denounced Marquez for magically transforming himself from a skinny guy \u2013 the one you fought \u2013 into the linebacker who landed the right hand of a lifetime against Manny.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cLook at the record. I\u2019m undefeated, the greatest of all time. I don\u2019t need Pacquiao. I\u2019m the highest paid athlete in the world without him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cManny\u2019s no longer asking for half the gate. He says he\u2019ll accept sixty-forty for you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWhy should I do that? I\u2019m my own boss. I get the whole gate. Pacquiao\u2019s just an employee of Bob Arum.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cWhat would it take, financially, for you to fight Manny?\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cThis isn\u2019t about money. Floyd Mayweather already earns more than any athlete in history. I don\u2019t want to fight a cheater. Little Manny was one-oh-six and then he starts destroying welterweights. That doesn\u2019t happen in nature.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cManny was one-oh-six when he was sixteen. He built himself up gradually. You used to be a lot lighter, too.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cMy growth was all natural. Look at Pacquiao\u2019s head now. It\u2019s twice the size it used to be. That\u2019s not right. We\u2019re in the hurting business, and what he\u2019s done is dangerous to his opponents, but no one does anything. Look at Barry Bonds, all he did was hit baseballs, and they want to throw him in jail for years.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cManny has agreed to be randomly tested the same way you and Olympic athletes are,\u201d said Raquel. \u201cThat\u2019s what you demanded. So he\u2019s complied with that as well as the division of the purse.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cMy health is more important to me than money or titles or historical reputation. You think I want to risk getting crippled so people can someday say: \u2018Floyd beat Manny Pacquiao.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cI commend you for being so concerned about health. Historically, far too few boxers have respected their well-being,\u201d Raquel said. \u201cBut I don\u2019t understand. You often say, as you have again tonight, that Pacquiao is much inferior to you, and you cite his and your Juan Manuel Marquez fights as examples. Then you contradict yourself and say that ferocious Manny could imperil your health. So, which is it, Floyd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\tMotioning to his sentinels, Floyd said, \u201cGet this windbag out of here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tAs he approached the hot tub one of the men said, \u201cBy the way, we just heard, Pacquiao won a unanimous decision over Bradley.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\u201cIt was either a gift decision or Pacquiao\u2019s back on drugs. Either way, Floyd Mayweather doesn\u2019t care.\u201d<\/p>\n
\tTurning around at the exit, Raquel said, \u201cFunny thing is, I think you\u2019d outpoint Manny rather handily.\u201d <\/p>\n
Editorial notes: I\u2019d like to thank Floyd for granting me a place in the hot tub, though he insisted I put my shirt back on to cover what he said was \u201ctoo much loose flesh.\u201d When I asked him to please respond to Raquel\u2019s final question, he also had me evicted. Fortuitously, Raquel gave me a ride back to my hotel where we discussed pugilism until dawn. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cLadies, it\u2019s a whole lot better being in this fancy hot tub in my Las Vegas mansion than in a sweaty arena, isn\u2019t it?\u201d \u201cYeees,\u201d gushed all but one. \u201cYou should be there,\u201d said a lovely young woman. \u201cYou need to prepare to fight the winner, who\u2019s going to be Manny Pacquiao.\u201d \u201cWho\u2019re you?\u201d \u201cI\u2019m…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1148,58,1081,275,984,426],"tags":[],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"yoast_head":"\n