Floyd Mayweather breaks silence over Manny Pacquiao rematch and claims he was paid £3m just for ‘saying his name’
FLOYD MAYWEATHER has broken his silence over rematching Manny Pacquiao – and claimed he earned £3million from just being called out.
Mayweather beat Pacquiao in 2015 in what still stands as boxing’s richest ever fight having raked in over £500MILLION.
And a rematch has always been touted even after the legendary pair sailed off into retirement.
More recently, Pacquiao announced that he would rematch Mayweather this year in an exhibition with MMA promotion RIZIN.
Only now has Mayweather responded to the claim in an interview on The Pivot Podcast.
He said: “When Manny Pacquiao spoke about that, he shouldn’t have because there’s a time and a place for everything.
“I’m not gonna say he’s right and I’m not gonna say he’s wrong. But it’s so crazy, when he spoke about it, I could’ve easily came out and said, ‘You spoke about it.’ I didn’t have to say nothing.
“Just by you saying my name they gave me a cheque for $4million.”
Mayweather refused to reveal who the alleged payment came from.
But he took the chance to aim a dig at Pacquiao, who he rivalled with for over half a decade before settling the argument over 12 rounds.
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Mayweather said: “But remember – he got famous because they said this could be the guy that could possibly dethrone the king.
“Did it happen? Absolutely not. Was it easy? Absolutely.”
Mayweather retired two years after beating Pacquiao, officially walking away following his 2017 win over UFC superstar Conor McGregor.
But he has continued to box in exhibition bouts since against stars of the social media, MMA and boxing world.
His last was in June against the grandson of notorious mob boss John Gotti, which ended in a disqualification win for Mayweather.
The pair have since announced they will rematch.
Pacquiao meanwhile retired following his 2021 loss to Yordenis Ugas.
But after a failed presidential election in the Philippines, the eight-division champion announced plans to make a comeback.
He returns on April 20 in Thailand against Muay Thai legend Buakaw Banchamek but wants to make a run back into traditional boxing afterwards.