Floyd Mayweather Praying for 'Close to Death' Pacquiao After KO
Floyd Mayweather, undefeated 35-year-old pugilist, is praying for Manny Pacquiao after his most recent fight against Juan Manuel Marquez resulted in a sixth round knockout defeat.
Although Mayweather has yet to face Pacquiao in the ring despite the outcry for the bout from boxing fans, he has publicly spoken out against his former rival in the media. However, since his release from a Las Vegas detention center in August, Mayweather has had kind words for 33-year-old Pacquiao.
The undefeated Mayweather took to Twitter on Monday morning to let over three million followers know that he was praying for Pacquiao after Marquez knocked him momentarily unconscious on Dec. 8.
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"My prayers go out to the Pacquiao family," Mayweather tweeted. "I know he loves the sport of boxing, so hopefully he can bounce back."
Fans offered mixed reactions to Mayweather's prayers for Pacquiao after years of the pair exchanging verbal barbs with one another. One fan could not believe that Mayweather was tweeting such nice things about the Filipino congressman and fighter.
"Really??? Floyd? Is that you," one fan questioned the boxer on the social networking website.
"Haha nice :)"
Another fan seemed to express similar disbelief when commenting on Mayweather's remark tweeting, "Eh what?!"
Mayweather elaborated on his comments further in a recent interview with Fight Hype.
"I'm not here to talk bad about Pacquiao. I feel bad for him, honestly. I really feel bad for him. There's a difference in the ways you can get knocked out," Mayweather revealed on the website. "See, when a guy gets knocked out and he can get up, they sit him on his stool, they rub his back, he go home and ice himself, you know, he go to the hospital and get checked out and he's okay, that's one thing. [sic] But when you gotta wake a guy up with smelling salt 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."
While Mayweather defeated Marquez in 2009, he spoke about both Pacquiao and his most recent opponent being champions. However, he also gave himself credit for helping to increase Pacquiao's popularity.
"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," Mayweather told Fight Hype. "I wish Pacquiao nothing but the best. I wish that he can bounce back and he can recoup from this. In the sport of boxing, you have to really dedicate yourself to your craft.
"You have to really, really dedicate yourself to your craft. I think he's got so many different things on the outside that he worries about, you know. But it was a good thing that he was able to come into the sport, you know, piggyback off my name, and get a bunch of endorsement deals and make a good living. That's a great thing."
When questioned about the possibility of him facing the Filipino congressman in the near future Mayweather seemed to think Pacquiao may need to work on some things before considering a fight with the undefeated 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," Mayweather told Fight Hype.
