In a span of three short days, Floyd Mayweather has completely reversed course about a possible rematch with Manny Pacquiao. On Tuesday, he hinted in a text to ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith that a rematch was very much on the table. On Wednesday, however, he seemed annoyed with Pacquiao’s camp continuing its injured-shoulder “excuse” for his poor performance last weekend. Finally, on Thursday, enough was apparently enough, as Mayweather indicated in an interview with Showtime that there will be no rematch.
“Did I text Stephen A. Smith and say I will fight him again? Yeah, but I change my mind,” said Mayweather. “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.”
Mayweather would obviously prefer that the post-match narrative, be that it was his stellar defense that limited Pacquiao to land only 81 punches on 429 attempts, and he’s simply tired of hearing that his dominating win was less legit. Then again, this could also be more posturing by an expert boxing promoter leading up to another main-event and, of course, another big payday. It’s impossible to differentiate these things anymore.
