MANILA, Philippines – Although he refuses to admit it, unbeaten boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr. sees eight-division champion Manny Pacquiao as a legitimate threat.

In an interview with Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin Iole, Mayweather acknowledged Pacquiao’s remarkable ability to throw volume punches.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. reluctantly admits Manny Pacquiao throws a lot of punches.

“He’s a pressure fighter,” the American boxer said of Pacquiao.

Mayweather, however, pointed out that Pacquiao tends to commit mistakes with his swarming style of fighting.

“There are a lot of mistakes that he makes… If you make those mistakes with me, you have to pay,” said Mayweather.

The outspoken American boxer also voiced his suspicion on Pacquiao’s successful climb to several weight classes.

Although he was careful not to mention performance enhancing drugs because of his ongoing defamation case with Pacquiao, Mayweather believes the Filipino’s ascent to boxing success seemed unnatural.

“It’s just so crazy that a guy can pop up out of nowhere and become such an amazing fighter,” Mayweather said.

“A guy like me has been doing it since the ’90s, dominating the sport and beating the best out there. This guy just popped up out of nowhere and people are trying to say he’s on the level of a Floyd Mayweather, when I’ve been dominating and doing this for almost 20 years now,” he said.

Iole later noted in his report that Mayweather seemed unaware that Pacquiao won his first world title at the age of 19 in 1998.

Pacquiao clinched the WBC flyweight crown on December 4, 1998.

Mayweather, on the other hand, nabbed his first world title, the WBC super featherweight belt, on October 3, 1998.

“I’m not saying he hasn’t earned the right to face Floyd Mayweather, but I can’t say that [Pacquiao is the best in the world other than me],” Mayweather said.

Mayweather earlier called out Pacquiao, saying that they should fight on May 5.

Pacquiao responded that he's willing to fight the undefeated boxer in the latter part of May with a 50-50 split of revenues.

The Pacquiao-Mayweather super fight, if it pushes through, may turn out to be the most lucrative bout in boxing history.

Pacquiao's boxing trainer, Freddie Roach, claimed that Mayweather is reluctant to face the Filipino.

He said Pacquiao's volume punching might claim Mayweather's first career loss.