Manny Pacquiao would seem to have gotten into Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s head.
And that’s a disturbing place to be.
Witness Mayweather’s recent YouTube posting, where Mayweather went on a racist, homophobic rant against the Filipino, whom he continues to find reasons to avoid in the ring.
In 10 minutes of pure vitriol, Mayweather called Pacquiao a “whore,” a “little yellow chump,” and a “midget” several times. He also used a denigrating word for gays and said he would force Pacquiao to “make some sushi rolls and cook some rice” and “we’re going to cook him with some cats and dogs.”
Pacquiao’s response? It was what one would expect from an adult, and helps further delineate the difference between the two men.
“I just heard about that, but I didn’t see the video,” Pacquiao said. “But it’s an uneducated message.”
Uneducated is the last thing Pacquiao would come across as, even though his family’s poverty forced him to drop out of high school. In 2007, a dozen years after he began making money as a professional fighter, Pacquiao took and passed a high school equivalency exam.
Since then, he’s taken business courses at Notre Dame of Dadiangas University and a governance class at the Development Academy of the Philippines — Graduate School of Public and Development Management.
The latter is preparation for his career as a lawmaker — Pacquiao was elected to Congress in May, taking on and defeating a wealthy, machine politician whose family had controlled the district for three decades.
There’s talk that Pacquiao one day could be president of his country.
Somehow, I don’t see that happening for Mayweather.
If Pacquiao is about service, at least in part, Mayweather is all about money — that’s his nickname — and about ego. Mayweather brags about the money he makes; Pacquiao, meanwhile, often gives money away.
Both could make a lot more money — to do with whatever they chose — if they fought, a bout that could earn each $40 million or more. But in fighting the powerful Pacquiao, Mayweather would be risking his undefeated record and the basis for his claim to be the best fighter ever.
Doubt about his ability to prevail is the only reasonable explanation why Mayweather has avoided going toe-to-toe with Pacquiao, rated by Ring magazine the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world.
In a pathetic “apology” posted after his rant, Mayweather said, “Forgive me for saying what I said. I was just having fun. I didn’t really mean it. Nothing in a bad way. So let’s just stay on this roller-coaster ride and keep riding, baby. It’s all love.”
It’s love, all right — self-love. And insecurity. And fear.
I don’t know who would win if the two ever met, but I suspect I know who Mayweather thinks would win.
(Hint: It’s not Mayweather.)
Contact Jim Gordon at gjames43@msn.com.
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