“That’s Why You Avoided Him for a Whole Decade”: Floyd Mayweather Trolled for Being Lost for Words While Complementing Manny Pacquiao as Iconic Phrase Draws Ire from Fans

“The best fighter I ever fought was probably Manny Pacquiao. I can also see why he’s going down as a Hall of Famer”— these are the words of praise from the legendary 50-0 boxer Floyd Mayweather directed at the eight-division champion. Both fighters shared the ring in an epic showdown billed as “Fight of the Century” at the MGM Grand Arena in Nevada in 2015. Floyd won the bout via unanimous decision, nevertheless, both fighters broke records on fight night.

The clash between the two boxers roped in 4.6 million pay-per-view buys and garnered $411 million in revenue making it the highest-grossing PPV boxing fight of all time. Recently, in an interview with DAZN Boxing, ahead of his exhibition match against John Gotti III on August 24, Mayweather labeled Pacquiao with a phrase that he often uses for fighters he admires.

Iconic phrase for an iconic man!

Manny Pacquiao is an 8-division champion, a feat never before achieved by any boxer in the history of the sport. Recognizing Pacquiao’s brilliance, his former rival Mayweather called him, a “Hell of a fighter”. Subsequently, DAZN, cut out a reel on Youtube, showcasing stills from Pacquiao’s iconic boxing matches against Ricky Hatton and Juan Manuel Márquez following ‘Pretty Boy’s’ proclamation.

Starting his professional boxing journey at junior flyweight, Pacquiao made his way up to super-welterweight, winning twelve major world titles in eight divisions defeating elite boxers like Marco Antonio Barrera, Oscar De La Hoya, Juan Manuel Márquez, Ricky Hatton, Miguel Cotto, and Keith Thurman. Safe to say, Pacquiao’s feat is as commendable as Mayweather’s 50-0 record,

Meanwhile, fans flooded the comment section to poke fun at Mayweather’s often-used phrase to describe fighters that he likes.

Does Mayweather only talk in catchphrases?

One fan joked that Floyd Mayweather wasted no time in using his iconic catchphrase, saying, “Legend has it Floyd said ‘you a helluva fighter’ to his mom after he was born.” The humor underscored how deeply embedded Mayweather’s signature line has become in boxing culture. Another fan took a moment to give both legends their due, calling Mayweather the “best defensive fighter” while hailing Pacquiao as the “one and only 8-division world champion.”

How would you like watching Floyd fighting Julio Cesar Chavez senior?

No, this is not a drill. Julio Cesar Chavez Senior just turned the boxing world upside down and he has been retired for many years. Although in recent years, he has fought a few exhibition matches and he is currently in better shape than 90% of the men’s population on the planet. With that in mind, Chavez feels so good physically that he is even sending a challenge to another one of the greatest boxers in history. Don Julio decided to post a fighting poster on his Instagram account of him when he was younger with Floyd on the other side. With this, Julio Cesar Chavez is challenging Floyd Mayweather Jr. to an exhibition match. If that happens, we would be talking about potentially the most seen exhibition boxing match in history.

Could Chavez vs Floyd Mayweather even happen?

To be clear, Julio Cesar Chavez fought Jorge ‘Traviseo’ Arce in another exhibition fight not that long ago. The last minute of that fight contains the most riveting boxing we’ve seen in any exhibition fight before. If Floyd Mayweather gets serious about this, we could be in for a treat that we never imagined we would get. Because Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Julio Cesar Chavez are from entirely different eras. But they are both retired from the professional circuit. Age will definitely be a factor for Chavez, who is now 62 years old, he is older than Mike Tyson.

As far as how possible this potential fight might be, it’s hard to say because we only hae this post from Chavez. But those who know Don Julio will tell you he is a no BS kind of man. If he is teasing something, there might be a chance he has at least talked about this possibility with Floyd. THe poster does say September 16 in Las Vegas but nothing is confirmed. Should this fight happen, it would be interesting to see if the viewers on this potential event can beat the viewers on the upcoming fight between Jake Paul and Mike Tyson. Because we have a feeling ‘The Problem Child’ will break record in exhibition boxing history. But if this one happens, it makes it an instant contender for the same honor.

De La Hoya reignites their historic boxing feud

Oscar De La Hoya has dramatically claimed the legendary Floyd Mayweather attempted to steal Ryan Garcia away from him, before boldly exclaiming the American is loyal to him and Golden Boy Promotions.

The links to the 50-0-0 multi-weight champion came after the 25-year-old Garcia was spotted going for early runs with him because be began to publicly call out De La Hoya and his promotion firm in the build up to his bout with Oscar Duarte.

“Maybe he’s slipping in some business. ‘Hey, come sign with me,’ or this and that,” De La Hoya said of Mayweather’s suspected antics to Club Shay Shay. “Ryan’s a loyal guy.

“He’ll tell me if he wants to leave me or he wants to stay with me, plus we have a contract.”

Garcia is currently serving a 12-month ban from all forms of professional boxing after testing positive for ostarine on multiple occasions ahead of his bout with Devin Haney, which he also failed to meet the maximum weight for.

He has also been expelled from the WBC after making racist comments on a livestream against the Islamic community and black people, in what has been a turbulent year since he suffered his first career loss at the hands of Gervonta Davis in 2023.

Why do De La Hoya and Mayweather dislike each other?

The De La Hoya vs. Mayweather rivalry is one of the most notable in modern boxing history, highlighted by their 2007 fight between the 10-time world champion in six different weight classes and undefeated Mayweather that captivated the sports world.

Dubbed The World Awaits, the fight was held at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. It was one of the most highly anticipated bouts in history as the pair clashed in front of thousands in the venue and millions on PPV.

Two judges scored the fight for Mayweather, while one scored it for De La Hoya and symbolized the passing of the torch from one era of boxing to another as De La Hoya retired around one year later in 2008.

Boasting an impeccable 50-0 record, Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather might be the “The Best Ever” to lace a par of gloves. And a fight with 3-division world champion, Julio Cesar Chavez (107-6-2) is still a fantasy match up that many would have wanted to see. Well, as it turns out, the 62-year-old legend recently teased the idea of an exhibition bout with Mayweather.

Hyping up the fandom for a potential exhibition match with th 47-year-old Mayweather, the veteran called for a scrap in Vegas in September despite being over 60!

Do note that while there have been several discussions between the two, the parties have never been able to come to an agreement.

So, although this post might be too good to be true, Cesar Chavez’s caption on IG had “Haytiro” in Spanish, meaning that there’s a fight!

But, will the promoters risk it and match the two at this point when both are well over their prime, especially given Chavez’s history of health complications?

Well, we will have to wait for more updates at this point. In the meantime, a closer look at both fighters’ resumes can help fans decide who would come out of top in their respective primes.

Chavez Sr vs Floyd Mayweather – A fantasy bout relieved through stats

With 50 wins and zero in the L column, Mayweather belongs to the elite club of boxing champions who retired undefeated. As a matter of fact,  he secured 23 lineal title wins with wins over not one not two but 23 world champions to establish his legacy. And while many a great fighter choose to be humble in comparison to the great Muhammad Ali, Mayweather claims supremacy over the OG as well.

On top of that, ‘Money’ also has participated in five of the highest-grossing fights in the sport’s history including ‘The Fight of the Century’ against Manny ‘PacMan’ Pacquiao, grossing almost half a billion!

On the other hand, there’s Chavez Sr. who is arguably one of the best pound-for-pound boxers of all time. According to Boxrec, he is ranked #17 in the P4P list which includes killers like Roberto Duran, Manny Pacquiao, and many more.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Oscar De La Hoya faced off for the WBC super welterweight world championship on Saturday, May 5, 2007 in Las Vegas

Boxing legends Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Jr. remain two of the most iconic figures in the sport, with their 2007 showdown marking one of the most memorable events in boxing history.

Recently, De La Hoya opened up about that fight, suggesting that a few different choices on his part could have led to a vastly different outcome-potentially even a knockout victory over Mayweather.

De la Hoya: I could have knocked out Mayweather

During a recent appearance on the Club Shay Shay podcast with Shannon Sharpe, De La Hoya made some bold claims about the fight, which ended in a split decision victory for Mayweather.

When asked if having Mayweather Sr. in his corner might have changed the result, De La Hoya responded confidently, “Knock him out. I would’ve knocked him out. Really.”

He elaborated further, stating, “If I was one year younger and had Sr. in my corner, I would’ve knocked him out. Absolutely.”

De La Hoya, who was known for his powerful jab, admitted that his failure to maintain that key aspect of his strategy was crucial to his defeat.

“The key to that style, the Philly Shell, is a jab. It opens up all the doors,” he explained.

Reflecting on his performance, he acknowledged, “When my jab failed me, it was over. I knew it in my heart, in my head.”

De la Hoya could have fought a rematch with Mayweather

Beyond the tactical aspects of the fight, De La Hoya also revealed that he had considered hiring Mayweather Sr. as his trainer for a potential rematch but ultimately decided against it.

“He wanted too much money,”De La Hoya disclosed, adding that he also felt it would have been morally wrong, considering the strained relationship between Mayweather Sr. and his son at the time.

“I said, ‘No, I can’t do this. I cannot do this to a family who has been in the business for a very long time.'”

The relationship between Mayweather Sr. and his son was fraught with tension, including a notable public fallout in 2000.

Despite this, De La Hoya chose not to pursue Mayweather Sr. as a trainer, in part to avoid deepening the rift between father and son.

“Aside from [money], morally, I think it was wrong,” De La Hoya remarked.

However, De La Hoya remains proud of his performance, noting, “I fought against the best Floyd Mayweather, in his prime, you know, undefeated… So I was pretty proud [of] what I accomplished that night.”