Pound-for-pound boxing king Floyd Mayweather said he would not fight Manny Pacquiao in a rematch, reverting his earlier statement that he was willing to postpone his planned September retirement so he could fight Pacquiao next year.
"Did I text Stephen A. Smith and say I will fight him again? Yeah, but I change my mind," Mayweather told Showtime, referring to a text message he sent to the ESPN commentator earlier this week. "At this particular time, no, because he's a sore loser and he's a coward," he added, according to ESPN.
The Showtime interview was recorded on Wednesday and will be shown on Saturday during the replay of what had been billed as the "Fight of the Century."
Pacquiao admitted after last Saturday's match that he fought with an injured right shoulder that limited his movements, but he was quick to add that he wasn't blaming his loss on the injury.
Mayweather, however, wasn't convinced of the story. "I'm not going to buy into the [expletive] and I don't want the public to buy into the [expletive]," he said, Yahoo! Sports reported. "He lost. He knows he lost. I lost a lot of respect for him after all of this."
He attributed Pacquiao's shoulder injury story to, "Excuses, excuses, excuses," and said, "If you lost, accept the loss and say, 'Mayweather, you were the better fighter.'"
The welterweight champion told Showtime that he did not notice any problem with Pacquiao's right arm during the fight. "Absolutely not. He was fast. His left hand was fast. His right hand was fast, and he was throwing them both fast and strong," he said, according to news.com.au.
Pacquiao went through arthroscopic surgery on Wednesday to have a torn rotator cuff repaired. He was advised to stay out of the ring for at least nine months to one year to allow his shoulder to heal. This means he and Mayweather will not be able to have a rematch next year if Mayweather would push through with his September 2015 retirement.
Mayweather remains undefeated with a 48-0 record. His bout with Pacquiao last Saturday is considered to be the richest fight in the history of boxing.
