Some may have expected Floyd Mayweather, Jr. to take satisfaction in the fact that Manny Pacquiao met such a sobering defeat against Juan Manuel Marquez, but Money's reactions have been the exact opposite.
Per Fight Hype, Mayweather said he "honestly felt bad for him [Pacquiao]", and he called him "a true champion." Of course, he snuck in the requisite digs to maintain his justified thoughts of superiority over Pac-Man as well.
He added:
In the sport of boxing, you really have to dedicate yourself to the craft. I think he's got so many different things on the outside that he's worried about, you know.
But it was a good thing 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.
Considering how nasty this rivalry has been, and how easy a mark Pacquiao was after the KO, it wouldn't have shocked anyone to hear Mayweather really use this opportunity to take shots at Pacquiao.
This response doesn't surprise me, though.
Mayweather has never come off as the kick-them-while-their-down type. That's too typical, and he's too rebellious and too smart to do what everyone expects him to do. Mayweather has always been part heart and part show.
His reaction to Pacquiao's defeat was a perfect example of that formula.
He also realizes that just as Pacquiao has seen his star dimmed, the same fate could happen to him. What casual fans don't realize is that in the sport of boxing, the devastating KO can happen to anyone.
When a fighter is as good as Pacquiao, or Mayweather, that cruel fact can be forgotten a bit, but it only takes a brutal right hand from a capable opponent to remind us.
Mayweather knows he's not exempt from that rule.
In fact, due to his recent jail sentence, age and the law of averages, he knows if he continues to fight, his time will come too. Don't think for a second that Mayweather didn't watch the KO on YouTube, or some other source and think, "that could be me."
He's seen at least one of the many Photoshop creations making fun of Manny Pacquiao. Imagine what the cruel photo creation artists will do with Mayweather's struggle face. The world loves to see a guy like Mayweather knocked off his pedestal.
He didn't need to see Pacquiao lying face down to know that, but it had to bring it even closer to the forefront of his mind.
Floyd did what any champion/superstar in the sport of boxing should do. He wished him well, but still stuck loosely to his persona. Heart and show, that's what's gotten him this far, and that's what makes him the most polarizing figure in the sport today.
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