Floyd Mayweather Jr, deemed as Manny Pacquiao's erstwhile rival offered words of encouragement for the Filipino Champ who suffered a 6th round knockout loss from Juan Manuel Marquez last December 8 (December 9, PHL time).
In an interview with Ben Thompson for boxing website FightHype.com, Mayweather praised both Pacquiao and Marquez and wished the former well after that stunning knockout.
"Marquez is a true champion. Manny Pacquiao is a true champion. Both of them went out there and put on a good performance, and that's a good thing for the sport of boxing," Mayweather said. "I wish Pacquiao nothing but the best. I wish he can bounce back and he can recoup from this….You have to really, really dedicate yourself to your craft. I think he's got so many different things on the outside that he worries about, you know. But it was a good thing that he was able to come into the sport, you know, piggyback off my name, and get a bunch of endorsement deals and make a good living. That's a great thing."
Mayweather, who admittedly felt bad for Pacquiao's loss gave the 8-division world champion pieces of advice before the epic battle between him and Manny can ever come into fruition.
"Pacquiao's focus should be trying to take a vacation, get his mind right, and get a few tune-up fights so he can bounce back. I'm not here to talk bad about Pacquiao. I feel bad for him, honestly….There's a difference in the ways you can get knocked out. When you gotta wake a guy up with smelling salts and he got a concussion and he gotta go to the hospital over night, that's crucial. I mean, that's close to the death."
"Hopefully he's [Pacquiao] okay. My prayers go out to the Pacquiao family. I know he loves the sport of boxing, so hopefully he can bounce back," the pound-for-pound and undefeated champion added.
