• Floyd Mayweather Jr v Miguel Cotto

Mayweather Jr lashes out at Pacquiao

Floyd Mayweather Jr insists his health is more important than money when he retires from boxing © PA Photos

Enlarge

Related Links

• News: Mayweather targets Hall of Fame triumph
  
• Profile: Floyd Mayweather Jr | Manny Pacquiao

Floyd Mayweather Jr launched into a 10-minute rant in front of the media on Tuesday during which he reiterated his allegation that Manny Pacquiao uses performance enhancing drugs.

Pacquiao is currently suing Mayweather for defamation regarding previous statements made in relation to drug use, an accusation he firmly rejects. However, that did not stop Mayweather offering further comment ahead of his May 5 fight with Miguel Cotto.

Mayweather's latest fight is taking place after he once again failed to agree terms with Pacquiao, widely considered to be his rival for the unofficial crown of pound-for-pound king. Asked why the potentially multi-million dollar contest had never happened, Mayweather stated that his health would be at risk.

"Health is more important than anything," he said to a select group of reporters. "Because guess what? When my career is over, if I'm hurt because of something that has happened in a fight, I can't come to you and say, 'I need [money].'

"People say, 'We don't give a f*** if he's taking or not; we just want to see the fight. We don't give a f*** about your health and we don't give a f*** about your family.'

"I care about my family. I love my family. They're going to be there when no one else is there. When my career is over, you're all going to move on to the next one."

Mayweather has previously demanded that for a fight with Pacquiao to take place, the Filipino fighter must adhere to random drug testing in the lead-up to the bout. Pacquiao is an eight-division world champion, moving from flyweight right through to light-middleweight, but Mayweather queried whether that transition had been "natural".

"I'm going up in weight but I'm not just walking through no damn fighters," Mayweather said. "This motherf***er was 106lbs [when he started] and he's just walking through Cotto. And Cotto can't knock down [Shane] Mosley, but he can? Come on man.

"Go back and look at the pictures. His head is small and then all of a sudden his head just grew? Come on man, stop this. Go back and look at the pictures and tell me this man's head didn't get bigger. You're going to tell me this shit is all natural. Come on man, stop."

Pacquiao is promoted by Bob Arum, a man who has had several run-ins with Mayweather over the past decade. In the most recent negotiations between the two fighters Mayweather insisted that Pacquiao was not worth a 50/50 split of the pay-per-view from their fight, something he attempted to justify to the media.

"Don King and Arum don't see out the eyes of a fighter because they're not a fighter," Mayweather said. "All they care about is some f***ing money. I care about a fighter's well being because I am a fighter. I know how it is to have a broken rib the rest of your life. I know how it is to piss blood. You all don't know nothing about this.

"This is how the world is, you get writers saying, 'Floyd is scared'. No, Floyd cares about his family. Floyd is smart. You all know for a fact I'm not scared. You all know that."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.