Manny Pacquiao has been recently named as the WBC’s number one contender in the welterweight division, which means that he will be the mandatory challenger to Floyd Mayweather. In a recent interview the reigning WBC welterweight and unified WBC and WBA super welterweight champion mentioned Pacquiao as a possible opponent.
The two fighters have been involved in multiple wars of words in the past, mostly during their botched negotiations for a mega-fight. However, Mayweather refused to say anything ill about Pacquiao in a recent interview with Chris Robinson.
Robinson first asked Mayweather what he think of the dismal sales of Pacquiao's last fight against Brandon Rios but the fighter didn't take the bait.
“I have nothing negative to say about Pacquiao. This is a guy who’s 1 and 2 in his last fights and I wish him nothing but the best,” Mayweather said in the interview.
The undefeated Amercian however threw subtle shots at Bob Arum’s Top Rank Promotions. “I don’t know which company he’s with, but the only company I’m focused on is this particular time is Mayweather Promotions. My fight is under my banner. All I can do is just focus on myself.”
Top Rank Promotions already announced that Pacquiao will be back in action on April 12 while Mayweather will fight on May 3. The two still have no opponents for their upcoming fight. In the same interview, Mayweather mentioned only two names.
“My focus is May third, I don’t know who my opponent may be,” Mayweather said. “If it’s Pacquiao, it’s Pacquiao. If it’s Amir Khan, it’s Amir Khan.”
Khan, Pacquiao’s former sparring partner, has long been rumored as Mayweather’s next opponent but it hasn’t been confirmed yet. The Mayweather-Pacquiao rumors on the other hand started when the WBC named the Filipino as the mandatory challenger.
“For 17 years they’ve been putting guys in front of me and I’ve been beating them,” the confident Mayweather closed. “So come May, they’ll put a guy in front of me, I’ll go to training camp, work hard, and the results will be the same.”