WHILE there is nothing certain yet, unbeaten Floyd Mayweather Jr. may decide to return to the ring and face eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao in a rematch after he watches how the Filipino fares in his WBO welterweight title fight against Jessie Vargas at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas on Nov. 5.
Ariza, Mayweather’s strength and conditioning coach when he beat Pacquiao on May 2 last year in the biggest fight in history, however said that boxers “change their mind like the wind.”
“But I think he will fight. He goes by what he feels. Floyd is in shape all the time and boxing misses him badly,” Ariza told the Manila Standard.
But even if Mayweather comes out of retirement in an effort to break heavyweight champion Rocky Marciano’s record of 49-0, Ariza said Mayweather doesn’t bother about such things.
At the same time, Ariza lamented the fact that Pacquiao, who used to draw 1.2 to 1.3 million viewers on pay-per-view fights in the past, is “not even on a decent channel when he fights Vargas.”
Pacquiao’s former strength and conditioning guru, who was ousted in a conspiracy involving trainer Freddie Roach and Pacquiao’s adviser Michael Koncz for allegedly creating dissension in the Pacquiao camp, said the Pacman’s clash with Vargas “is a horrible fight for the fans,” and that with “so many exciting fights available at 140 and 147 pounds, he thought Pacquiao should have, maybe picked even Dany Garcia, the reigning unbeaten WBC welterweight champion.
Garcia has a record of 32-0 with 18 knockouts.
Ariza said the best fight for Pacquiao would be against Amir Khan, although he believes, “Manny can’t beat Amir.”