By Nick Giongco
Floyd Mayweather is willing to meet Manny Pacquiao.
Not in the ring, but over lunch or dinner. Or even in the basketball court.
Claiming that youth is no longer on his side, Mayweather, who retired last year after racing to a 50-0 record, told a group of reporters early Tuesday morning that he’s done fighting in the ring.
“I’m an old man now. There’s no more fight in Floyd Mayweather,” said Mayweather, who loves referring to himself in the third person in an interview with reporters who covered his arrival at dusk.
Mayweather’s only passion for boxing right now is recruiting talent who can join his growing stable of promising punchers and he is upbeat that lots of aspiring Filipinos will eventually join his group in the pursuit of their world title dreams.
Mayweather turned 41st last February and even gifted himself with a brand new and luxurious private jet, his third, that he can use in his travels all over the world.
How about another mouth-watering matchup with the eight-division Filipino champion?
“Probably we can sit down together, perhaps have lunch or dinner and see what’s happening with his team,” he said.
Apart from that cordial setting, Mayweather maintains that the only way he can engage Manny in a contest would be in basketball as the two are hoop junkies.
One of the richest athletes ever, Mayweather earned a staggering $250 million when he beat Manny Pacquiao in their super fight in May 2015 in Las Vegas. When he overwhelmed MMA icon Conor McGregor in August last year, Mayweather got another massive payday.
Mayweather has been touring the world using his new jet to ferry him from country to country. Before arriving in Manila, Mayweather and his team were in Thailand and previously in Indonesia, Singapore and Dubai.
Insisting that he’s done, Mayweather said his focus is “travelling around the world” and “meet the people and fans.”
Asked about facing the 39-year-old Pacquiao in a rematch, Mayweather shrugged it off, saying he’s “not thinking about boxing…not at all.”
But he admits that “we don’t know what the future holds (but) right now I’m retired.”
Pacquiao, who complained that he wasn’t 100 percent in condition when he faced Mayweather because of a wrist injury, is craving to get even.
In an interview with him in his Forbes Park residence, Pacquiao, who challenges Argentine Lucas Matthysse for the world welter crown on July 15 in Kuala Lumpur, says he is not giving up hope on getting another crack at payback.
