Floyd Mayweather, Jr. didn’t become the highest-paid American athlete in 2013 if he wasn’t an excellent salesman. He could be one of, if not the best in that regard.

Combine that with a brash and arrogant personality with exceptional boxing skills and you have the ultimate villain. He is the man fans would love to hate. Mayweather plays the role of “heel” to perfection and therein lies the secret to his winning: the crowd patronizes him, not because of his unassailable yet fan-friendly style, but simply because they want to see him lose.

To Mayweather’s credit, some of the best lightweight fighters (Jose Luis Castillo, Diego Corrales, Zab Judah) in the era have tried to put a stink on his record, but to no avail. It’s far from a secret to the casual fan that for the better part of two decades, no one did, and maybe no one does.

The rise of Manny Pacquiao in the mid-2000s became a beacon of hope for Mayweather’s detractors.

There’s this nice guy from the Philippines with a literal rags-to-riches history, beating people left and right on his way to being considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world for over 300 weeks.

At last, there is now someone who fans would see as a hero, the anti-Mayweather, if you will.

All the talk about Pacquiao possibly beating Mayweather isn’t just wishful thinking. The Filipino machine has lightning-quick hands with real power behind them and most purists believe that Pac-Man’s fast-paced, all-out pressure style could pose problems for the defensive-minded magician. Even the great Sugar Ray Leonard called him a “Tasmanian devil” because of the way he performs and throws punches in bunches.

In contrast, the game of Money is not so much about quick boxing as it is about not getting hit by any of the projectiles they call punches. But that only made the potential encounter a hundred times more exciting. The styles make the fights, they say.

It’s a matchup that many thought was made in heaven. Or maybe not.

Years before, reports said that at least twice, the fight nearly broke through only to go down at the last minute. Drug tests that Pacquiao wants no part of then, the $40 million guaranteed money that he turned down, Bob Arum, and so on.

Much has happened since then and Pacquiao, from being at the top of the boxing world, has plummeted to No. 5 on most charts and Mayweather has firmly planted himself in that No. 1 spot.

Mayweather basked in the glory of having his fight against Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez heralded as the highest-grossing pay-per-view fight of all time (2.2 million buys) and reportedly brought in $150 million. Pacquiao, on the other hand, won convincingly against Brandon Rios, but the pay-per-view numbers could only muster an anemic 550,000 buys, tops.

Now, that would only mean that Pacquiao has lost much, if not all, of his clout in talks of a potential matchup and Mayweather, teacher that he is, isn’t going to stop reminding Pacquiao of the latter’s now-inferior status.

Recently, on a visit to Johannesburg, South Africa, Mayweather had some choice words for the struggling congressman, even pointing out Pacquiao’s two previous losses and recent tax troubles.

“I offered Manny Pacquiao the fight before,” Mayweather said. “We didn’t agree on the terms. Years later we came back and I try to make the fight happen again. I offer him $40 million. He said he wanted 50-50. So we didn’t make the fight happen.” .

“All of a sudden, he loses to Timothy Bradley, he loses to Marquez… now he’s got tax issues. So two losses and tax issues later, now all of a sudden he wants to be like, ‘You know what? ‘I’d do anything to make the fight happen. ‘ when he’s really saying, ‘Floyd, can you help me solve my tax problems, get me out of debt?'”

Pacquiao countered by summoning his inner villain, appealing to Mayweather’s masculinity in a telephone interview in a Philippine newspaper.

“I am not desperate to fight him just for money or material things. It is not me who is looking for this fight; rather it is boxing fans all over the world. I am ready to submit to any kind of strict.” drug test.”

“Above all, I challenge you to include in our fight contract that neither of us receive anything from this fight. We will donate all guaranteed prize money from the fight, if any, gate receipts, payouts.” -view and sponsorships- to charities around the world”.

In addition to proposing a charity fight, Pacquiao added:

“Floyd, if you’re a real man, fight me. Let’s do it for the love of boxing and for the fans. Let’s not do it for the money. Let’s make the boxing fans happy.”

Of course, Mayweather’s accusations that Pacquiao is broke are baseless and borderline ridiculous. Estimates have Pacquiao’s total earnings at over $300 million dollars and he is consistently on Forbes magazine’s list of highest paid athletes year after year.

Mayweather may have been at the top of that list for a couple of years, but Pacquiao is not a pushover. It’s also interesting to note that “Money” got all of his money exclusively from his fights and no endorsements of any kind.

Pacquiao, on the other hand, has a host of local and international endorsements, including Nike, Hennessy, San Miguel Corp., among others. The numbers may not match Mayweather’s totals, but you get what I mean. Even with Pacquiao’s problems with the BIR and the IRS, he would still have enough money to last him and his family for a lifetime.

But did Pacquiao do more harm than good by challenging Mayweather like that? Probably, but Mayweather isn’t the type to run out of jokes. He may be silent for now, but he expects a response in the coming weeks.

Contrary to what some fans would suggest, Mayweather isn’t actually scared as if he’s “afraid of chickens” from fighting the eight-division world champion. But the thing is, he’s so concerned with nothing more than keeping his undefeated record and he recognized that Pacquiao is a legitimate threat like there never will be.

What will happen if they ever turn their backs on him? What if they take away that cloak of invincibility that she treasured for so long? Will he have endorsements to turn to or the face to stand up to the people and the media?

Floyd is a salesman, remember, and he can be a classier businessman than a fighter.

I am one of the millions who wanted to see a clash between two of the best of our generation. Records, gate attendance, and PPV purchases don’t matter; never mind the W’s and the L’s or the legacies, just seeing Mayweather test his skills against Pacquiao and vice versa is enough to drive any fan crazy.

I, for one, think Mayweather will outlast Pacquiao if it ever happens. I have always favored defense over offense in any sport and this time will be no different. But there are always what-ifs and breaks, especially at big events, and that’s what makes sports exciting.

But sadly, everyone has their own reasons and agendas for not making this fight happen. Manny had his when he was up and Floyd Jr. always has despite his own limits, if there ever were any.

From the looks of it, Manny Pacquiao now doesn’t care if he wins or loses; he has lost before and if he falls one more time, no one will be surprised. But I can’t say the same for Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

Perhaps he has pondered these things and decided it would be too risky to fight a daredevil like Pacquiao. With that said, let everyone rest until the real talks begin and don’t get your hopes up on a Mayweather vs. Pacquiao.

But then again, I’d love to be wrong this time.