Floyd Mayweather's February Tune-Up Talk Is Another Ploy to Press Manny Pacquiao

In the wake of Manny "Pac-Man" Pacquiao's narrow and controversial defeat of Juan Manuel Marquez on Saturday, talks have centered on when Pacquiao will finally take on Floyd Mayweather. It seems as it Mayweather has other plans, though.

During a recent interview, Mayweather expressed a desire to have a February "tune-up" fight. He would presumably be tuning up for Pacquiao, but the date isn't consistent with what he has said so far. Mayweather has already reserved MGM Grand in Las Vegas for a May fight, possibly against Pacquiao.

It seems unlikely that Mayweather would fight in February and then have such a quick turnaround in May. With that said, I don't view Mayweather's comments as anything other than pressuring of Pacquiao to get a deal in place quickly.

If Mayweather makes it seem as if he has other plans, then it may compel Pacquiao and his team to get the ball rolling in terms of negotiations. Mayweather has plenty of business sense, so after already defeating Victor Ortiz I find it hard to believe he would take any risks with a massive pay day on the line.

As much as some like to say that Mayweather has been ducking Pacquiao, I'm not sure how that's the case. Seemingly no person in boxing is more money hungry than "Money" Mayweather, so it stands to reason that he would want nothing more than to fight Pacquiao, as the purse would be incredible.

Ultimately, Mayweather simply likes to hear himself talk and he likes to throw a lot of scenarios out there. Essentially everything he says needs to be taken with a grain of salt. There is no guarantee that he is planning to fight Pacquiao in May and there is certainly no guarantee that he truly wants to fight in February.

If nothing else, Mayweather's threats should make for a nice bargaining chip. As much as Mayweather probably wants to fight Pacquiao, he doesn't need the fight at this point. Pacquiao does, though, in order to redeem himself after being outboxed in his majority-decision win over Marquez.

Mayweather is fully aware of this and is exhausting his assets in order to take advantage of the situation. With Pacquiao and his camp presumably desperate to get a deal done, Mayweather should be able to get close to his desired amount in terms of payment, as well as other perks like Olympic-style drug testing, which is something he has pushed for.

You really don't know what to believe when it comes to Mayweather, and this is another of those instances. I do believe that a Mayweather vs. Pacquiao superfight will come to fruition, and Mayweather's threat of a February tune-up fight is little more than putting the full-court press on Team Pacquiao.