Floyd Mayweather has changed his mind on a rematch with Manny Pacquiao and has slammed his rival for making excuses after losing to him.
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Mayweather secured a unanimous points win over Pacquiao at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas last Saturday, but the Filipino has since undergone surgery after blaming a torn rotator cuff in his right shoulder for limiting him.
The issue arose during training camp which forced him to stop to rest it, but it was felt that he had made enough progress in order to avoid postponing the fight.
While he has since been threatened with disciplinary action from the Nevada State Athletic Commission and legal action from disgruntled boxing fans, he will now be sidelined for six months after undergoing the procedure.
However, Mayweather has been left completely unimpressed with his excuses, and after initially suggesting that he would be open to a rematch in 2016, the unbeaten superstar has now changed his mind on the matter.
Asked if he felt as though Pacquiao was hampered by the injury in the ring, Mayweather said: “Absolutely not,” as reported by the Los Angeles Times.
“He was fast. His left hand was fast, his right hand was fast, and he was throwing them both fast and strong.”
“Yeah, but I change my mind,” he added when reminded that he had said he would give him a rematch.
“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’.
“I’m not going to buy into this and I don’t want the public to buy into it. He lost, he knows he lost. I lost a lot of respect for him after all of this.”
Although the seriousness of the injury would suggest that it did in some way limit Pacquiao, his revelation hasn’t gone done well with boxing fans and the general public.
The 36-year-old requested an anti-inflammatory shot on the night of the fight which was rejected, but he had previously ticked ‘no’ on a questionnaire asking if he was suffering from any injuries.
As a result, the controversy is expected to rumble on for some time and although fans were left disappointed by the nature of the bout, a rematch between the pair arguably remains the fight that makes the most boxing and business sense for both men with few other options in the division likely to generate the same numbers financially.
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