Bernard Hopkins questions why Manny Pacquiao hasn’t fought top-notch black fighters
Boxing legend Bernard Hopkins prides himself on injecting truth into the boxing world. Even if it happens to make people a bit uncomfortable.
In the wake of Manny Pacquiao’s stunning win over Antonio Margarito last weekend, Hopkins revealed he believes Floyd Mayweather would beat him, and that Pacquiao has systematically been avoiding “black”
fighters who pose specific stylistic problems.
In an article now removed from FanHouse, Hopkins said: “Floyd Mayweather would beat Manny Pacquiao because the styles that African-American fighters -- and I mean, black fighters from the streets or the
inner cities -- would be successful. I think Floyd Mayweather would pot-shot Pacquiao and bust him up in between the four-to-five punches that Pacquiao throws and then set him up later on down the line."
Pacquiao fought Joshua Clottey of Ghana in March, but Hopkins quickly ruled out the contest by saying Clottey was black, but not a black boxer from the United States with a “slick style.”
More generally Hopkins asked how come Pacquiao had never fought a “top-notch black fighter.”
The respective camps of Pacquiao and Mayweather have been trying to arrange a mega-fight for the better part of a year and a half, with little luck. A first round of negotiations was thwarted when Mayweather
insisted on Olympic-style drug testing, a tactic Pacquiao claimed could give Mayweather an advantage since he is a bigger fighter.
Pacquiao’s close advisor Michael Koncz denied Hopkins's accusations in the same article, saying: “The selection of opponents for Manny has nothing to do with race, creed or color. It's all about business.
And they can cry all that they want. It's all about economics, now, with Manny's career.”
Even Top Rank promoter Bob Arum, who promotes Pacquiao, caught wind of the comments and had a thing or two to add.
"I have heard that, yes [that Pacquiao avoids black fighters],” Arum said. “A lot of people don't articulate it. But a lot of people, in effect, hint at it […] there is no argument there. The notion
that he [Pacquiao] would not fight an African-American fighter is ridiculous."
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