[h1]Floyd Mayweather talks Manny Pacquiao (June 28, 2011)[/h1]
NEW YORK -- It seems Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao will be forever linked, regardless of whether they ever face each other in the ring.
The two have danced around the richest fight in boxing for several years, unable to come to terms. Meanwhile, their animosity has grown to the point that Pacquiao has a pending defamation lawsuit alleging Mayweather unfairly accused him of using performance-enhancing drugs.
So it's not surprising that Mayweather spent just as much timeanswering questions about Pacquiao on Tuesday as he did aboutVictor Ortiz, the welterweight champion whom he'll face in his nextfight on Sept. 17 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
"I've never said that Manny Pacquiao was taking steroids, Inever said he was taking enhancement drugs," said Mayweather, whofailed to turn up for a court-ordered deposition in Las Vegasearlier this month involving the defamation suit.
"I want to fight the best they got out there, not just him, thebest they got out there," Mayweather said, "and if he's on thelist as one of the best guys, then absolutely."
Mayweather said he's willing to fight Pacquiao if there israndom blood and urine testing, which is more stringent than theprotocol used by most state athletic associations. Mayweather saidPacquiao's team would only agree to blood and urine testing atcertain times.
"It's not just Pacquiao, it's sports, period," Mayweathersaid. "If you look at sports in the Olympics, they're cheating.Everyone is cheating. And I never once said Manny Pacquiao wascheating, only thing I said was this: Me and any other opponent Iface must take the test."
Mayweather will be returning to the ring for the first timesince defeating Shane Mosley in May 2010, though the undefeatedformer champion has made plenty of news since then.
Last Friday, 21-year-old Anthony Cliff filed a lawsuit accusingMayweather of ordering his bodyguards to attack the man outside thePalms Casino Resort on March 27, 2010.
The lawsuit accuses Mayweather of assault and battery,intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligent hiring,training, supervision and retention of employees.
Mayweather also faces felony charges stemming from a domesticargument and misdemeanor harassment and battery charges in separatecases.
"When you're young, black and rich, you go through things inlife," Mayweather said. "But I'm a strong individual. I cansurvive through anything."
Mayweather's adviser, Leonard Ellerbe, declined to discuss thelitigation.
"We focus on the business part and the boxing part," Ellerbesaid. "We let the attorneys handle the legal stuff."
Mayweather and Ellerbe joined several hundred fans inside theHudson Theater in New York City to kick off a promotional tour forthe fight against Ortiz, who is coming off a career-definingvictory over Andre Berto that made him the WBC welterweightchampion.
Ortiz said he doesn't mind that people want to talk aboutPacquiao -- even if that person is Mayweather -- because he's staringat the opportunity of a lifetime.
"I'm supposed to be a piece of nothing, I'm not supposed to behere, according to the statistics," said Ortiz, whose parentsabandoned him when he was young, forcing him and his five siblingsto live in foster care. "I'm tired of, 'You can't do this, youcan't do that.' "
Early in his career, Ortiz was anointed the nextMexican-American superstar by Oscar De La Hoya, whose companypromotes him. But his meteoric rise met a wall when he foughtMarcos Maidana two years ago. Ortiz was losing after six rounds andessentially quit in the ring, one of boxing's cardinal sins, and fansand the media were quick to write him off.
Ortiz has been spectacular on the slow road to redemption,though, and in April climbed off the canvas twice to beat Berto asthe heavy underdog and win the welterweight championship.
"I realize he's a great fighter, but since I was 9 years old, Ialways said I'd fight Mayweather one day as champion of the world,and check it out," Ortiz said. "It's crazy."
Ortiz said he asked to fight Mayweather or Pacquiao after hismost recent fight, even though he heard whispers from people --including some in his own promotional company -- who said he wasovermatched or out of his mind. But he wanted to fight the best inthe world, and depending who you ask, he may have achieved that bylanding a shot at Mayweather.
As for Mayweather's plan to fight Pacquiao next?
"There's only one problem," Ortiz said. "I'm fightingPacquiao next."
