Floyd Mayweather’s father says fight with Manny Pacquiao will ‘definitely’ happen

Timothy Bradley of US, left, defends against Manny Pacquiao of Philippines during their WBO World Welterweight Championship title match at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 12, 2014. AFP PHOTO /JOE KLAMARShow less

LOS ANGELES // The long anticipated fight between unbeaten American Floyd Mayweather Jr and Filipino ring icon Manny Pacquiao will “definitely” happen, Mayweather’s father predicted in an interview.

Speaking to fighthype.com this week, Floyd Mayweather senior voiced confidence that the bout that has been many times in the making but never actually materialized would eventually occur.

“That fight’s going to happen, trust me,” he said. “That fight’s definitely going to happen. It’s a fight for the world, man, right there.”

Ring fans the world over have been baying for a mega-fight between two of the world’s greatest boxers of their generation, but previous talks have always broken down before a deal could be signed.

Pacquiao, 35, has held world titles in eight separate weight divisions.

He is training to defend his World Boxing Organization welterweight title against another undefeated American, Chris Algieri, in Macau in November.

Mayweather Jr, the World Boxing Council and World Boxing Association super welterweight champion, pushed his record to 47-0 with a lopsided points victory over Marcos Maidana in a rematch in Las Vegas last month.

The elder Mayweather acknowledged that he had not received any special word from his son on a potential Pacquiao fight. But he believes public interest is so high that it must eventually happen.

“It needs to happen,” he said. “The world wants to see it – and they’ll want to see it again when Floyd beats Pacquiao.”

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