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Barely seconds after Manny Pacquiao had completed a ruthless demolition of Miguel Cotto in Las Vegas last Saturday to win the world welterweight boxing title, the crowd in the MGM Grand Garden Arena began chanting "We want Floyd, we want Floyd".
The Filipino's commanding win has left the boxing public hungrily awaiting a showdown between him and unbeaten American Floyd Mayweather Jr.
The duo are widely viewed as the two biggest names in contemporary boxing, and their confrontation could finally settle the argument over who is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world.
But the path to this dream duel is far from easy. Both fighters are known for demanding the lion's share of any negotiated figure and Mayweather has, so far, shied away from committing to a clash.
Pacquiao, whose victory over Cotto earned him a seventh world title in an unprecedented seventh weight class, deferred to his promoter, Bob Arum.
"My job is to fight in the ring," the 30-year-old said after improving his career record to 50-3-2 with 38 knockouts. "It's my promoter's job to make the fights."
Mayweather was widely regarded as the world's best pound-for-pound fighter when he stopped Britain's Ricky Hatton in 2007.
However, the brash American then retired from the ring undefeated in 40 bouts, before returning 21 months later, during which time the mythical "pound-for-pound" tag was passed to Pacquiao.
He released a statement via his promotions company on Monday, saying: "Tell Manny Pacquiao to be his own man and stop letting everyone talk for him.
"If Manny Pacquiao wants to fight me, all he has to do is step up to the plate and say it himself. He doesn't say anything directly about fighting me because he might just know it's not a fight he can win."
One of the best defensive fighters of all time, Mayweather has continually bragged that he is the greatest fighter of his era.
For the boxing public, that argument can be settled only when he enters the ring with Pacquiao.

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