• Boxing

Pacquiao's only famous because of me - Mayweather

Floyd Mayweather Jnr has refused to apologise for his foul-mouthed rant at 80-year-old boxing broadcaster Larry Merchant, and told Manny Pacquiao that he is living off the Mayweather name.

Mayweather produced arguably the most controversial performance of his career on Saturday, knocking out Victor Ortiz in the fourth round. The fight-ending combination came when referee Joe Cortez was in the act of docking Ortiz a point, with Mayweather taking full advantage as Ortiz dropped his hands waiting for the bout to restart.

Afterwards, Mayweather reacted angrily to the mass boos from the crowd, telling veteran broadcaster Merchant: "HBO need to fire you, you don't know s*** about boxing. You ain't s***."

To his credit, Merchant responded by saying: "I wish I was 50 years younger and I would kick your ass."

Mayweather was later given the chance to apologise for his comments, which could have been passed off as being in the heat of the moment, but he stood defiantly in the face of criticism.

"I don't regret what I said," he told boxingscene.com. "Everybody is tired of Larry Merchant. Everybody is tired of him. He said if he was 50 years younger, that he would kick my ass.

"All of these boxing experts...how can you be a boxing expert if you never had a fight before?"

Mayweather also sent a message to Pacquiao, the man still considered by many to be the one rival the American is ducking. Mayweather continues to insist on strict drug testing for the Filipino fighter, and he insists Pacquiao is only famous because he can be mentioned in the same breath as Mayweather.

"Pacquiao is famous because he is attached to my name," Mayweather said. "When they say Pacquiao, they say 'that's the guy they are trying to get to fight Floyd Mayweather'. When they say Floyd Mayweather, they say the greatest ever.

"How can Pacquiao offer me anything? I do the offering. With or without Pacquiao, any time Floyd Mayweather goes out there he is going to make $70 million. I don't need him."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.