KEY POINTS

  • A former champ who almost beat Floyd Mayweather would only return to fight Manny Pacquiao
  • Pacquiao vowed to fight anybody at 147-lb division
  • Former champ holds the record of most shots landed by opponent on Mayweather

A former champ who almost beat Floyd Mayweather Jr. would only return to fight Manny Pacquiao.

Marcos “Chino” Maidana has been retired for almost five years. However, he revealed that he would be willing to step inside the ring again only to face the Filipino legend Pacquiao.

After a second defeat under the hands of Mayweather, Maidana has never returned in the ring. But after being surprised with Pacquiao’s performance on July 20 against WBA welterweight champion Keith Thurman, Maidana thinks that a clash with “Pacman” is the only fight that suits his possible return.

Maidana has a great resume in boxing. During his prime, he has fought Victor Ortiz, Devon Alexander, Adrien Broner, Josesito Lopez, Amir Khan and Erik Morales. But he was widely remembered for being the fighter who arguably defeated Mayweather.

Maidana believes that he won the first fight against Mayweather but stated that he has no plans of fighting the undefeated champ for a third time. According to Maidana, he likes to share the ring with Pacquiao because the Filipino likes to come forward unlike Mayweather who ran around the ring the entire fight, Boxing Scene reported.

"I've already fought with everyone. Pacquiao would be the only one that I haven't been in with, and I would go directly into that fight," Maidana said to ESPN Deportes.

“What I like is that he comes forward and so do I, and it would be like a crash. I like Pacquiao's style, it's going to be a good fight. N ot like the one with Mayweather where you have to run around the ring,” Maidana pointed out.

There are a lot of fighters who could be matched with Maidana in his possible return. However, the KO artist got his eyes locked on Pacquiao only and wouldn’t bother to return to face other fighters.

“There is only one boxer left for me to test myself against, Manny Pacquiao. So with that we are waiting, I would return for him," Maidana emphasized.

Floyd Mayweather Manny Pacquiao
Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao are two of the best pound-for-pound fighters in boxing. Getty

Apparently, Maidana has already called-out Pacquiao several times in the past. About a year ago, the eight-division champ already responded to Maidana’s call and vowed to face anybody at 147. However, Pacquiao’s only concern is Maidana’s weight.

“You think so? (laughs) He is heavy already. Can he still make 147lbs? You know I have no problem. I can fight at anybody at 147lbs,” Pacquiao said.

Maidana’s first loss to Mayweather was plagued with controversies. Reports claimed that Maidana threw more than twice as many punches as Mayweather outscoring the undefeated champ 858 to 426. It was also noted that the 221 shots connected by Maidana was the most ever landed by a Mayweather opponent.