Fighting Words: Floyd Mayweather On The Difference Between Him And Manny Pacquiao

By Fight Sports Jul 28, 2020 Last updated Jul 28, 2020

Carefully planning when he competes, Floyd Mayweather has proven to be a smart businessman in and out of the ring. Retired since 2017, there are only a few factors that would allow Mayweather back inside a boxing ring. Could a rematch entice him?

Speaking with Fat Joe on Instagram, Mayweather (50-0) discussed the impact he has on the sport. When asked who the undefeated fighter would compete against, Mayweather was very specific when it comes to who and what he wanted.

“I’m a businessman now. I already proved, years and years ago, that I was the best, period. I’m talking pound-for-pound, I already proved all of that,” Mayweather stated, via ABS-CBN. “At my age now, I’m a businessman, so I’m not gonna be out there competing and fighting guys that only got a small city behind them. You got a lot of American fighters that are good, but they got little cities behind them. I’m going to fight guys that got a whole country behind them. So, I know I can demand and get what I want to get.”

Mayweather initially retired from boxing in 2015. Before fighting Andre Berto to a unanimous decision win, Mayweather beat Manny Pacquiao that May. It was a fight that generated over 4,600,00 buys and a revenue of $400,000,000. He came back in 2017 to face MMA star Conor McGregor. That fight, which Floyd won via TKO, generated 4,300,000 buys worth $370,000,000.

Regarding his last comments, Mayweather was asked if a fight with the Senator of the Philippines would be worth coming out of retirement for. While enticing, Mayweather believes his earnings and what he has done has helped him in the long run.

“Listen, I made more with McGregor,” Mayweather went on to say. “My faculties and everything that I got comes first. We just talked about “Your health is your wealth”, and that’s why I got this towel on, I was working out today…Pacquiao fights because he has to. Once again, I fight if I want to, so there’s a difference.”

After losing to Mayweather, Pacquiao won the WBO Welterweight Title before losing it to Jeff Horn. He has since won three in a row, beating Keith Thurman back in July for the WBA Welterweight Title.

After retiring, Mayweather would fight for RIZIN in 2018, beating kickboxing sensation Tenshin Nasukawa at RIZIN 14 in a boxing exhibition bout. Knocking him down three times, Mayweather would end up winning via TKO after one round. He is currently working out a deal with RIZIN to compete in another exhibition bout.