As we all know, all-round good guy and all-time great fighter Manny Pacquiao is not one for trash-talk. Not at all. But the 46 year old who will shoot for yet more boxing history next month, this of course in his July 19 challenge of the significantly younger Mario Barrios for the WBC welterweight title, has had some things to say about his one-time ring foe Floyd Mayweather.
Speaking on the George Janko podcast, Pac-Man said of Mayweather that he “pities him.” Why? Because, in Pacquiao’s opinion, and in the opinion of quite a few other people, Mayweather is far too boastful about how much money he has earned and how much he has got. Pacquiao says Mayweather’s God is of the material kind, and for this he pities him.
“Material God”: Pacquiao Lays Bare Mayweather’s Vanity
What a person does with their own money is of course their own business, but Manny feels Mayweather would be a better person if only he gave to deserving charities and if he also gave money to the church. Pacquiao suggests Mayweather should be able to control himself with regards to what he does with his money.
“Yeah, he’s boastful,” Pacquiao said of Mayweather, who of course goes by the very nickname of ‘Money’. “I think his God is the material things, money, everything like that. And I pity him. I pity with him for sure. Because I want to share the word of God in him, if he believes in God. There is a discipline, balance. Control yourself. For example, you are earning money, so what I did is, I helped the church. I give 10 percent to the church, and 10 percent separate to help the poor people, building houses, giving us sustainable livelihood.”
Again, what Mayweather does with his money is his affair, and it should perhaps be pointed out that Mayweather has over the years quietly helped out a fellow fighter who was in financial distress at the time, while Floyd has also paid for more than a couple of fighter’s funerals out of his own pocket.
Will Pacquiao’s Warning Echo Back on His Comeback?
Why Pacquiao has chosen to speak about Mayweather and his financial affairs now is quite curious. It has of course been said by some that Pacquiao is coming back in large part for the money he needs. Manny has been incredibly generous over the years, that’s for sure.
In an ideal world, all fighters who risk so much in the ring the way they do would retire with a healthy bank balance, and be free to do with their money whatever they want to do with it. Let’s hope Pacquiao is not coming back to the ring because he is either broke or close to it.
