LOS
ANGELES: Floyd Mayweather has branded Manny Pacquiao a "sore loser" and a
coward and says he won't delay his planned retirement to grant the
Philippine icon a rematch next year, in an apparent U-turn.
And
he dismissed Pacquiao's claim that he had been carrying an injury in
Saturday's one-sided win for Mayweather, the American calling it
"Excuses, excuses, excuses."
Mayweather took his unbeaten
record to 48-0 in Las Vegas with a 12-round unanimous decision over
Pacquiao in a welterweight world title bout that will go down as the
most lucrative in boxing history.
In an interview recorded this
week to be aired on Showtime television on Saturday, Mayweather says he
did text ESPN's Stephen A. Smith that he would grant Pacquiao a rematch
-- but he has changed his mind.
The 38-year-old says he
couldn't detect any physical problem for Pacquiao during the bout, after
which the Filipino and his camp said he was suffering from a right
shoulder injury.
"Absolutely not," Mayweather said. "He was
fast. His left hand was fast. His right hand was fast and he was
throwing them both fast and strong."
Although Pacquiao had
arthroscopic surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff in Los Angeles on
Wednesday, Mayweather said his plea of injury was nonsense.
"He lost. He knows he lost. I lost a lot of respect for him after all of this," said Mayweather.
As to the flip-flop on a possible rematch, Mayweather said simply: "I change my mind.
"At this particular time, no, because he's a sore loser and he's a
coward... If you lost, accept the loss and say, 'Mayweather, you were
the better fighter.'"
Pacquiao, 57-6-2 with 38 knockouts, is expected to be out of the ring for nine months to a year. -Agencies
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