Floyd Mayweather not people’s champ as Pacquiao packs punch

Las Vegas: For all that Floyd Mayweather says it’s not in his make-up to lose, there’s one fight he just can’t seem to win. Mayweather burnished his perfect ring record and reputation as a consummate craftsman with a 12-round unanimous decision over Manny Pacquiao on Saturday only to depart the MGM Grand Garden Arena to a chorus of jeers.

It was an unequivocal victory that stamped the 48-0 American the best of his era.

 

But in the crowning moment of his career, the 38-year-old champion was defiant in the face of the evidence that his undeniable skills haven’t earned him a place in the hearts of boxing fans or of greats like Muhammad Ali, Sugar Ray Robinson and Sugar Ray Leonard. Mayweather professes not to care.

 

“A 19-year career with no punishment on the body — and the money,” he says of what he considers the defining characteristics of his greatness. Mayweather’s impressive resume lacks the kind of wars that make the greatest ring theater: Ali versus Joe Frazier, Marvin Hagler versus Thomas Hearns.

 

Making it even harder is a string of incidents of violence against women — including a two-month jail stint for assaulting the mother of three of his children.