Manny Pacquiao took exception to recent comments made by Floyd Mayweather and said he fights not for the paycheck, but simply out of his passion for boxing.
The eight-division champion said his upcoming welterweight clash against Errol Spence (27-0, 21 KOs) on August 21 in Las Vegas is simply his way of wanting to take on the sport’s elite even at 42 years old.
“I’m not like some other guys who are in it just for the money,” Pacquiao said in Filipino on the Power & Play show hosted by former PBA commissioner Noli Eala. “Some other fighters challenge non-boxers just to get paid. I want to fight. I want to challenge the best.”
Pacquiao was referring to statements made by Mayweather following his exhibition bout against YouTuber Logan Paul, where the 44-year-old American said that his one-time rival is fighting because “he has to.”
“When I come and do an exhibition or come out and box and have some fun, I do it because I want to do it, not because I have to do it,” the retired Mayweather said last June 6. “Whereas Pacquiao at his age, it’s sad that he has to fight. I’m financially set and I want to let everybody know this.”
But Pacquiao fired back with his own jabs at “Money” Mayweather and said he would have taken the easy route by taking on easier assignments.
“If I’m fighting for the money, then I would have picked some scrub to fight,” he expressed with a laugh. “Why would I try to fight an undefeated fighter if I’m chasing the paycheck? This is a real fight. I fight because this is my passion. I love beating undefeated fighters and bringing honor to my country.”
This upcoming bout against the 31-year-old Spence will be Pacquiao’s (62-7-2, 39 KOs) first in two years, or since he scored a split decision win against Keith Thurman last July 2019 to retain his WBA welterweight belt.
Pacquiao said his camp also deliberated a fight with WBO welterweight champion Terence Crawford and four-division champion Mikey Garcia before ultimately deciding to go with Spence, ESPN’s No. 4 pound-for-pound fighter who holds WBC and IBF belts in the 147-pound division.
“I picked among Terence Crawford, Errol Spence and Mikey Garcia,” he revealed. “We then came up with the decision to fight Errol. But I thought a Crawford fight would also be good since he’s also undefeated.”
Fighting an elite welterweight after a very lengthy layoff undoubtedly poses an unenviable challenge, but Pacquiao said he already knows what to work on and where to key in on his training.
“I need to have stamina and good conditioning,” he noted. “In this fight, you have to expect more action in the ring compared to my last three fights. I have to make sure that my stamina is enough so I don’t fall short in all 12 rounds.”
Pacquiao has been training in General Santos City, but he shared that he will fly to the U.S on July 3 to link up with longtime trainer Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Gym in Los Angeles.
“I’ve actually started adjusting my body clock. I’ve been waking up at 9:00 p.m. to jog, because 9:00 p.m. here is 6:00 a.m. in the U.S,” he bared. “I’ve been adjusting here so that I don’t encounter any difficulties when I fly to the U.S. So I sleep in the morning and I train in the evening.”
Asked whether or not this could be the last fight of his storied career, Pacquaio declined to provide a definite answer.
“It’s hard to say right now. It could be, but there could also be more fights after this,” he commented. “I’m taking it one at a time. We can’t tell the future.”
