Despite twice mentioning Manny Pacquiao's name during two separate press conferences to promote his upcoming May 5th fight with Miguel Cotto, Floyd Mayweather insists that he's tired of talking about the 8-division world champion. "You know, we talked about Pacquiao, but I could really care less what he do. I could care less what he do. I'm really tired of media even asking me about that. I'm just very, very tired; I'm tired, I'm tired, I'm tired. If you guys want to interview me, don't ask me noting about Pacquiao; I could care less," Mayweather calmly remarked as he entertained questions from the assembled media yesterday at the Apollo Theater in New York City. In fact, Mayweather has seemingly come to the realization that a fight with Pacquiao may never happen, and unfortunately, he shares the same sentiments as his pound-for-pound counterpart, as neither one thinks they need each other in order to be considered an all-time great.
When asked point blank if he thought a fight with Pacquiao would ever happen, Mayweather replied, "Absolutely not. The only way I think the fight with the guy who got 3 losses, and I don't know how many draws, the only way that that fight will happen is he has to leave Bob Arum. And I'm not telling him to leave Bob Arum, because I know how the media are. You know, they take your words and they screw 'em up; they make it the way they want to make it." Although Mayweather stopped short of saying Pacquiao had to sever ties with Arum in order to make the fight a reality, it's clear that he doesn't think both sides will ever come to an agreement, particularly on the money. As far as Mayweather is concerned, due to Arum's desire to line his own pockets, he will never match Pacquiao with any fighter outside of the Top Rank stable, thus preventing Pacquiao from making the type of money that Mayweather is currently making.
"Bob Arum likes to match Top Rank fighters with Top Rank fighters. He keep all the money in-house and he controls all the revenue. Like I said, it's going to be hard. Do I want the Pacquiao fight? Absolutely, but it's going to be hard to make the fight because Arum is worried about getting money," Mayweather explained. "That's a Top Rank fighter. I offered him money, he turned it down, he don't wanna fight. Y'all seen what his purses is. I offered him $40 million," he added. "I'm an all-time great with or without Pacquiao. You know, I wasn't in the sport 2 years, I became world champion in a year. I've been in the sport from then 'til now and I'll beat you for your belt and give it back. Like I said before, a belt don't make me."