MANILA, Philippines - Floyd Mayweather Jr. was asked for his opinion on Manny Pacquiao’s recent win over Timothy Bradley. The undefeated American, as expected, hardly had any praise for the Filipino icon.
In a report by fighthype.com’s Ben Thompson, Mayweather admitted seeing portions of Pacquiao’s fight with Bradley last April 13, even congratulating the Filipino for reclaiming the WBO welterweight title via a unanimous decision.
“Actually, I did watch the fight. You know, I haven’t seen Pacquiao fight in years. I’ve seen highlights, but I haven’t seen Pacquiao fight since he fought Miguel Cotto (in 2009). You know, congratulations; he was the better man,†said Mayweather.
Mayweather’s praise for Pacquiao, however, ends right there.
The Las Vegas-based fighter stressed he wasn’t impressed with Pacquiao’s performance, adding both Pacquiao and Bradley treated their rematch like an amateur fight.
“I think both fighters fought like amateurs. I thought Pacquiao fought like an amateur also and I wasn’t pleased with his performance. He got the victory the best way he knew how, but I wasn’t pleased with his performance at all,†Mayweather explained.
Mayweather made the comments in a recent conference call with the media to drum up his fight with Argentine Marcos Maidana on May 3 (May 4 Manila time). After Pacquiao defeated Bradley, talks about him facing Mayweather in a megabuck showdown resurfaced.
Pacquiao and Mayweather have tried to arrange a showdown before but failed. But the fighting congressman isn’t closing his doors on a Mayweather bout.
The same can’t be said for Mayweather, who still isn’t keen on meeting Pacquiao as long as the latter is associated with Bob Arum’s Top Rank Inc.
“I’m seeing something totally different in Pacquiao, but still, that don’t make me say, ‘Yeah, I’ma go out there and fight him,’ because he’s with Bob Arum and I’m with Mayweather Promotions,†he ended.