Manny Pacquiao just called Floyd Mayweather Jr. an ex-convict and wife beater. While reminding his recent ring opponent of the unbeaten American boxer's dark past, the Filipino champ expressed hope that "Money May" would reflect on his life and change for the better.
The verbal jabs between the two boxers - temporarily halted in early 2015 when they accidentally met at a basketball game in the U.S. that paved the way for the "Fight of the Century" on May 2 in Las Vegas - resumed after the ring battle that failed to live up to its hype. In this latest exchange, Mayweather drew the first blood by posting a video on Instagram showing him hitting a dummy that he pretended was Pacquiao, reports Badlefthook.
Badlefthook notes that while Mayweather appears to be joking about Pacquiao's shoulder injury, the caption place a question mark on the legitimacy of the latter's explanation for his unanimous decision loss to Mayweather who spent the 12 rounds running away from his opponent.
In response, Pacquiao said in a statement issued through his PR manager Aqui Zonio, "We should understand Mayweather Jr. because of his family background. He hailed from a family of ex-convicts and he himself is an ex-convict. We could not blame him because his action just showed the kind of family upbringing he had."
Pacquiao not only refreshed the boxing world of Mayweather's criminal record which Heavy listed. In 2002, Mayweather had convictions on two counts of domestic violence and one count of misdemeanor battery for repeatedly punching in the face in 2001 Melissia Brim, the mother of Mayweather's daughter.
This was followed in 2002 by two counts of misdemeanor battery for hitting two friends of the mother of the boxer's three other children, Josie Harris. In 2005, there was one more charge of misdemeanor battery for beating a bouncer at a Michigan bar.
In the same year, he faced another felony battery for beating Harris, but his former wife took back her previous statements and the charges were dropped. Finally, in 2011, a felony battery charge was dropped to misdemeanor battery for attacking again Harris in front of their children for which Mayweather served 60 days in prison.
He also reminded his opponent how a real champion should conduct himself. That is being "gracious both in his words and conduct" which should go beyond his professional life but even extend to his family and private life.
Badlefthook concedes this verbal sparring to a point in favor of Pacquiao who the website notes "sounds polite even in his digs against Mayweather." However, it points out that the retiring champ with zero loss record, declared this week by Forbes as the highest-paid celebrity with an estimated earnings of $300 million over the last 12 months, would likely hit back at his "poorer" counterpart who came in second on the list with an income of $160 million.
The sports website said Money May would likely just post a copy of his May 2 paycheck, estimated to have reached a total of $235 million, including Mayweather's share of pay-per-view buys, and boast that it is larger than Pacquiao's paycheck of about $150 million.
The bad blood extends to their managers since Bob Arum, Pacquiao's manager, filed on Wednesday a $100-million lawsuit against Al Haymon, Mayweather's adviser, over alleged predatory business practices of Haymon meant to corner all lucrative boxing events.