Even in retirement, Floyd Mayweather Jr. thinks that he’s the reigning pound-for-pound champion. And not Manny Pacquiao.
“I take my hat off and congratulations to Manny Pacquiao if that’s what they (public) feel. But… he’s been knocked out before, and three or four years ago he got out-boxed by a washed out Erik Morales,” Mayweather told Gabriel Morency of American radio sports program Sports Rage.
Mayweather said Pacquiao may have inherited his pound-for-pound title, but he raised some serious doubts about this, and at the moment, there’s no interest in fighting the Filipino superstar.
“I think Manny Pacquiao is a good fighter and I take nothing away from Manny Pacquiao. But didn’t Manny Pacquiao fight one of the Marquez brothers… knocked him down three times in the first round and still got a draw?”
“And then he fought him again and won by one point,” said Mayweather, referring to Juan Manuel Marquez who drew with Pacquiao in 2004 and took a controversial points loss in March last year.
Mayweather said he wouldn’t be surprised if Pacquiao beats Ricky Hatton on May 2 in Las Vegas, because when he fought and defeated the British superstar in 2007, he “took everything out of him (Hatton).”
“Early in his career he already fought all his hard fights and when he was at the pinnacle of his career he met up with the best and he lost so that took everything out of him. He has nothing left,” he said of Hatton.
He said Oscar dela Hoya, Bernard Hopkins, Sugar Shane Mosley, Antonio Margarito and even Pacquiao are all great fighters. But he said no one comes close to the boxer they call “Pretty Boy.”
“Everybody’s beating everybody but there ain’t nobody who beat Floyd Mayweather (undefeated in 39 pro fights). And there ain’t anybody to leave the sport on top and undefeated. I don’t care who’s your name,” he said.
Even in retirement, he’s being paired with Pacquiao, and many are hoping by year’s end they will figure in a rare battle between two pound-for-pound champions.
Mayweather said he’s not interested – at least for now.
“If I sit down with my family, my mother and in my prayers God says it’s time to come back then I’ll come back. But as of right now I’m not looking,” he said.
“I’m sitting well over $300 million so it’s obvious I’m not doing it for the money. You know someday we have to pass the throne and right now if Manny Pacquiao is the guy who has (it) then congratulations. I wish him nothing but the best.
“But right now my main focus is my kids, and me outside of boxing, and making hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars… just being smart and being an entrepreneur,” Mayweather said.
“I take my hat off and congratulations to Manny Pacquiao if that’s what they (public) feel. But… he’s been knocked out before, and three or four years ago he got out-boxed by a washed out Erik Morales,” Mayweather told Gabriel Morency of American radio sports program Sports Rage.
Mayweather said Pacquiao may have inherited his pound-for-pound title, but he raised some serious doubts about this, and at the moment, there’s no interest in fighting the Filipino superstar.
“I think Manny Pacquiao is a good fighter and I take nothing away from Manny Pacquiao. But didn’t Manny Pacquiao fight one of the Marquez brothers… knocked him down three times in the first round and still got a draw?”
“And then he fought him again and won by one point,” said Mayweather, referring to Juan Manuel Marquez who drew with Pacquiao in 2004 and took a controversial points loss in March last year.
Mayweather said he wouldn’t be surprised if Pacquiao beats Ricky Hatton on May 2 in Las Vegas, because when he fought and defeated the British superstar in 2007, he “took everything out of him (Hatton).”
“Early in his career he already fought all his hard fights and when he was at the pinnacle of his career he met up with the best and he lost so that took everything out of him. He has nothing left,” he said of Hatton.
He said Oscar dela Hoya, Bernard Hopkins, Sugar Shane Mosley, Antonio Margarito and even Pacquiao are all great fighters. But he said no one comes close to the boxer they call “Pretty Boy.”
“Everybody’s beating everybody but there ain’t nobody who beat Floyd Mayweather (undefeated in 39 pro fights). And there ain’t anybody to leave the sport on top and undefeated. I don’t care who’s your name,” he said.
Even in retirement, he’s being paired with Pacquiao, and many are hoping by year’s end they will figure in a rare battle between two pound-for-pound champions.
Mayweather said he’s not interested – at least for now.
“If I sit down with my family, my mother and in my prayers God says it’s time to come back then I’ll come back. But as of right now I’m not looking,” he said.
“I’m sitting well over $300 million so it’s obvious I’m not doing it for the money. You know someday we have to pass the throne and right now if Manny Pacquiao is the guy who has (it) then congratulations. I wish him nothing but the best.
“But right now my main focus is my kids, and me outside of boxing, and making hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars… just being smart and being an entrepreneur,” Mayweather said.
