Floyd Mayweather Jr. Sets Record Straight on Victor Ortiz, Manny Pacquiao

Floyd "Money" Mayweather went into his post-fight press conference and explained why Victor Ortiz got what he deserved in the ring, why Larry Merchant should be fired by HBO and why Manny Pacquiao needs to take a drug test.

Mayweather used the press conference to give his fans a few glimpses into what the future holds for him and the sport of boxing.

Victor Ortiz Rematch

“If he feels that it was a fluke and it didn’t get done right the first time, I’ll do the same thing again.”

If there’s a rematch with Victor Ortiz, it will end with another knockout. Floyd explained the game plan for walking Ortiz down was working and he could see his opponent’s body breaking down and his face begin to bruise and bleed.

HBO Boxing Analyst Larry Merchant

“It’s out with the old and in with the new. We need some young, hungry reporters doing this for HBO...He needs to be fired...Everybody’s tired of Larry Merchant. Everybody’s tired of him.”

If Mayweather has his way, HBO will assign Max Kellerman to his fights in the future. Mayweather made it clear there will be more confrontations with Merchant in the future if he covers his fights and doesn’t give him a fair interview. He truly believes it’s time for HBO to fire Merchant and will not put up with his paternalistic questions in the future.

Manny Pacquiao

“A fighter don’t just get 25 and all of a sudden become great. A fighter don’t become 25 years old and just pop out of nowhere, ‘You know what? I’m knocking junior middleweights out. I’m knocking middleweights out.’ That just don’t happen. That just don’t happen...I just want to be on an even playing field...If you don’t got nothing to hide, then take the test.

“Right now, if I was to go to the heavyweights and compete with the Klitschkos, [reporters] would say, ‘You know what? Floyd Mayweather is on something.’ But [reporters] say a man could go from 105 all the way up to 154 and it’s all natural. C’mon, man. Wake up.”

The CEO of Mayweather Promotions, Leonard Ellerbe, told The John Thompson Show that promoter Bob Arum knows Pacquiao can’t beat Mayweather and that’s the real reason they haven’t made the fight (skip to the 20:00 mark of the show for the interview).

If Arum thinks Pacquiao cannot beat Mayweather, the fans won’t see that fight until after Arum’s made as much money as possible from other fights because Pacquiao won’t command eight-figure purses with more than a million pay-per-view buys after he loses. Arum is delaying the fight so he can cash in on Pacquiao’s current popularity.

Mayweather said in his press conference that Pacquiao’s only popular because he’s been anointed as the person that can beat the undefeated Mayweather. Arum knows this and will squeeze as much money out of that popularity as he can. It benefits Arum the longer they don’t fight and both boxers keep winning.

Don’t expect Arum to make a deal with Mayweather promotions for a Pacquiao fight until he runs out of time before Manny’s retirement. Don’t expect Pacquiao to fight any serious contenders before then, either.

Reporters and boxing fans hate Mayweather for “ducking” Pacquiao because he made the decision to take control of his career like Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh did when they agreed to sign with the Miami Heat (and that's why they're big fans). Oddly enough, Pacquiao escapes this criticism because he works for Arum, the man that’s actually preventing the fight from being made.

If Pacquiao cut Arum out the loop like Mayweather did, perhaps fans would have a real chance to see the fight they want before both fighters skills greatly diminish. Until then, Mayweather said in the press conference that he’ll be training the next generation of boxing champions.