Far from his usual tirade against the eight-division world boxing champion Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao, a sympathetic Floyd “Pretty Boy” Mayweather Jr. commended the Filipino boxer despite losing via knockout to Mexican Juan Manuel Marquez in their fourth bout held Sunday in the US.
“Things happen. You live and you learn. The only thing he can do is rejuvenate himself and bounce back like a true champion,” the undefeated pound-for-pound boxer said in his interview with FightHype.com, published Dec. 10.
Mayweather praised both Pacquiao and Marquez by saying, “Marquez is a true champion, Manny Pacquiao is a true champion. Both of them went out there and put on a good performance, and that?s a good thing for the sport of boxing.”
Setting aside trash-talk, Mayweather, this time, wishes Pacquiao “nothing but the best. I wish that he can bounce back and he can recoup from this. In the sport of boxing, you really have to dictate yourself to your craft.”
He also commented on what possibly took a toll on Pacman’s fight.
“I think he’s got so many different things on the outside that he worries about, you know…” he said.
According to Mayweather, he really felt bad for Pacquiao because he thought the latter’s condition became critical and “close to death” when he got knocked out.
He explained, “There’s a difference in the ways you can get knocked out. See, when a guy gets knocked out and he can get up, they sit him on his stool, they rub his back, he goes home and ice himself, you know, he goes to the hospital and get checked out and he’s okay, that’s one thing.
“But when you gotta wake up a guy with smelling salts and he got a concussion and he gotta go to the hospital over night, that?s crucial. I mean, that?s close to the death.”
“Hopefully he’s okay. My prayers go out to the Pacquiao family. I know he loves the sport of boxing, so hopefully he can bounce back,” he added.
The much-awaited Pacquiao vs. Mayweather bout is still up in the air, according to the American boxer. “Pacquiao’s focus should be trying to take a vacation, get his mind right and get a few tune-up fights so he can bounce back.”
Pacquiao has already undergone a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) test. Na-CT scan ako tsaka chineck-up, okay naman lahat,” he said on “Unang Hirit” in a phone interview on Tuesday .
The report added that Pacquiao and wife Jinkee attended a Bible study session where they gave thanks to what they call a “second life.”
