Mayweather, 46, has not been back in the ring since fighting John Gotti III last summer, a bout that ended in a mass brawl after a controversial stoppage. That was his seventh exhibition match since retiring for the third and final time from the sport in 2017 after extending his record to 50-0 by beating Conor McGregor.
Since then, he has fought the likes of American influencer Logan Paul, YouTuber Deji Olatunji, and, most recently, reality TV star Aaron Chalmers at the O2 Arena in London last year. Pacquiao, meanwhile, recently tried and failed to represent the Philippines at this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris.
Unlike Mayweather, who won bronze at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, Pacquiao, 45, has never previously competed at the Games. But he is now five years older than the entry limit, and the International Olympic Committee informed him this week that the rules will not change for him.
Days after that announcement, a new episode of ‘The Pivot Podcast‘ was released featuring Mayweather. During the hour-long interview, he spoke about the rumours.
“When Manny Pacquiao spoke about that, he shouldn’t have,” Mayweather said. “Because there’s a time and a place for everything.”
The place Pacquiao chose was RIZIN’s New Year’s Eve event. He told a crowd: “I will see you here in Japan again, for a big fight. Floyd Mayweather, I thought you wouldn’t want me to say that. I am excited for that.”
Mayweather continued: “I’m not gonna say he’s right, and I’m not gonna say he’s wrong. But it’s so crazy – when he spoke about it, I coulda easily came out and said: ‘Yeah, you spoke about it, I ain’t have to say nothing.’
“‘Just by you saying my name, they gave me a cheque for $4 million.” Asked who he meant by ‘they’, Mayweather remained coy. “I don’t like to throw certain individuals under the bus, ’cause we don’t do that.”
Clarifying, he explained: “He said my name when he wasn’t supposed to. Remember I said, there’s a time and a place for any and everything. He said my name, and I said: ‘You in the wrong.'”
“Remember, I want you guys to go check out Manny Pacquiao when he got upset a few times, when he said: ‘Oh, Floyd, you using my name, you using my name. But remember – he got famous because they said this could be the guy that could possibly dethrone the king.
“Did it happen? Absolutely not. Was it easy? Absolutely.”
Mayweather’s reasoning for it being ‘easy’ is that one judge, Dave Moretti, scored the bout 118-110, giving him ten rounds to two. But the other two, Burt Clements and Glen Feldman, saw it as a tighter contest, scoring it 116-112.