Mayweather nixes rematch
It seems Mayweather is not so impressed with Pacquiao suggesting his shoulder injury was a factor in the fight. Before hearing about Pacquiao making such a claim, Mayweather had praised his opponent and told ESPN boxing writer Stephen A. Smith in a text Tuesday that he’d wait for Pacquiao to heal and then give him a rematch.
But in an interview with Jim Gray on Showtime today — it airs on Saturday — Mayweather reversed course. He’s mad about the shoulder “excuse,” though apparently not fighting mad given he’s nixed the rematch. Not only did he nix another fight he said the Filipino could only fight on his undercard and called him a coward.
“Did I text Stephen A. Smith and say that I’ll fight him again?” Mayweather asked Gray. “Yeah, but I changed my mind. At this particular time, no, because he’s a sore loser and he’s a coward. If you lost then accept the loss and say, ‘Mayweather, you were the better fighter.’
“Excuses, excuses, excuses,” he added. “I’m not going to buy into the bullshit and I don’t want the public to buy into the bullshit. I lost a lot of respect for him after all of this.”
Pacquiao shoulder injury
Pacquiao’s trainer, Freddie Roach, asked officials only two hours before the May 2 fight if his boxer could have a shot for pain in his right shoulder, which he said Pacquiao hurt in training. He said they thought the injury was okay but that it was now sore again. It was the first time they’d divulged the injury and a pain shot was denied. They could be fined or Pacquiao suspended for not reporting the injury.
Since the fight Pacquiao has said that he re-hurt the shoulder only in round 4 of the fight. Mayweather wasn’t buying any of it and insisted Pacquiao did not appear hurt during the fight. That flurry of Pacquiao punches in the sixth round would suggest Mayweather may be right.
“He was fast,” Mayweather said on Showtime. “His left hand was fast. His right hand was fast and he was throwing them both fast and strong.”
Of course this could just be Mayweather getting an early start on pre-fight hype. Maybe he and his camp decided it makes for more excitement to go a few months saying the rematch is off, then once Pacquiao starts training after his injury heals, open the door to it all over again.
After all, the fight made him north of $180 million and about $120 million for Pacquiao, or more. Some reports suggest there were so many pay-per-view buys the final figure might be as high as $300 million for Money May… for Yo Yo Mayweather alone.
