Floyd Mayweather Sr has emphatically shut down talk of his son following in Manny Pacquiao’s footsteps by reversing his retirement.

‘Money’ Mayweather hung up his gloves in 2017 with an unblemished 50-0 record.

Since then, the 48-year-old has continued to compete in lucrative exhibition bouts with YouTubers, reality TV stars and everything in between.

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He teased the idea of returning to pro boxing three years ago to rematch Conor McGregor or Pacquiao.

However, nothing ever came to fruition. And according to his dad, it never will.

“No deal,” Mayweather Sr told the Mayweather Channel when asked if his son would ever box professionally again.

“I’m telling you when I [say] it like that, you know what’s up.”

The question was posed to Mayweather Sr days after it was announced that Pacquiao is set to face WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios in his first pro fight in four years.

Pacquiao, aged 46, last fought in August 2021, when he was beaten on points by Yordenis Ugas.

Yet the WBC have sanctioned him to box for their version of the 147lbs world title against a man 17 years his junior.

According to reports, the fight is being targeted for July 19 in Las Vegas, and it hasn’t gone down well with the boxing fraternity.

talkSPORT pundit Spencer Oliver was left bewildered by the news and let his thoughts be known live on air last week.

“Pacquiao looked a shell of his former self in his last fight against Ugas,” said Oliver.

“He has had a long career and turned pro in 1995. He’s a great, but he’s coming back now.

“But the biggest disgrace of this is that the WBC are sanctioning the fight for a world title, which is just wrong.

“I think it’s a young man’s sport, the inactivity and way he performed in his last fight. I don’t like it.

“Let’s just leave it there. But the governing bodies should only sanction fights if they are in the top 15.

“He’s been retired for four years, so how does that warrant him jumping the queue and fighting Barrios?

“It’s wrong in so many ways. The system is broken with the WBC allowing that to happen.”

Floyd Mayweather once bought himself out of a contract with Top Rank by paying $750,000 to the promotion.

He went on to appear in some of the biggest fights the sport has ever seen, and those fights made him a boatload of money, $1.15 billion to be exact. Today, he is the richest boxer in the history of the sport. However, even Floyd Mayweather, the richest boxer whose nickname is literally ‘Money,’ hasn’t escaped allegations of bankruptcy.

A while ago, Mayweather started making waves across the internet for his real estate investments in New York, especially his claim that he had bought 62 residential apartment buildings in Manhattan for $402 million. The subject went out of bounds when a Business Insider exclusive reported that there was no evidence that Floyd Mayweather had actually made the purchase. The media outlet claimed New York City property records showed no ownership transfer for any of the buildings. BI also noted that the NYC Housing Partnership was not notified of any pending sale or ownership change.

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It was followed by ‘Fighters Corner News’ sharing a video titled ‘Stephen A. Smith Exposes Floyd Mayweather For Going Bankrupt After $402 Million Scam.’ This video, also shared by Mayweather’s long-time rival 50 Cent, immediately went viral everywhere, casting doubts about his financial standing among fans.

In response to this report from Business Insider, Mayweather filed a defamation lawsuit against the media outlet and one of its reporters, Daniel Geiger, earlier this month, seeking at least $100 million in damages. The lawsuit was filed in the Southern District of New York and claims Geiger “embarked on a campaign of harassment and defamation, characterized by aggressive and misleading journalism that not only distorts the truth but seems driven by a deep-seated bias against Mr. Mayweather’s success.”

Since then, Business Insider’s spokesperson told Front Office Sports, “We will vigorously defend against this meritless attempt to discredit our reporting and smear our reporter.” Regardless, Floyd Mayweather has once again vehemently denied the bankruptcy allegations against him!

Floyd Mayweather says he has been unfairly judged by the media

According to a report from Realtor[dot]com, Mayweather appeared at The Real Deal’s New York City Forum on May 7, where he addressed the rumors about his bankruptcy. “Everybody is entitled to their own opinion, but if that’s what you call having two private jets, owning 100 buildings, and being able to do what you want, then I’m pretty sure everybody is going bankrupt,” Mayweather said.

He even spoke about his lawsuit, claiming he worked hard to be where he is today. “I’m not a liar,” he said. “I work hard to build my name and build my reputation.” He also claimed that he had never filed a lawsuit against a media house in his life. “But the media has bashed me and my family throughout my life, and I have always been judged by them.”

That said, it’s clear Floyd Mayweather is not backing down from his claims about owning apartment buildings in New York. It would be interesting to see how the lawsuit turns out, as defamation suits are known to be tricky.

“I had high hopes, and I always believed my son was going to become a hell of a fighter. But… I could never have imagined he’d become the biggest athlete in the world ever.” 

Despite such praise from Floyd Mayweather Sr. for his legendary son Floyd Mayweather Jr., they haven’t always been on the best of terms with each other.

The feud between ‘Money’ Mayweather and his father is a complex and well-documented saga rooted in personal, professional, and familial tensions. Spanning over decades, the pair has seen periods of estrangement, public confrontations, and brief reconciliations. However, have you ever wondered when all of this began?

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There were cracks in the relationship as early as 1993, when Mayweather Sr. was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison. This left Mayweather without a primary trainer or a father during his formative years, and his 1996 Olympic bronze medal run, as he trained under his uncle, Roger Mayweather.

Mayweather Jr. would later claim that he was forced to raise himself, and couldn’t rely on his father or his mother. Mayweather Sr., however, claimed he had provided for his son throughout his childhood. Despite these issues, they largely stuck together, but that came to an end in 2000.

Sr. was out of prison in 1998 and had resumed his role as a trainer and manager until J. Prince came into the picture. In 2000, Mayweather fired his father and replaced him with Prince before defending his title against Gregorio Vargas. However, a meeting had taken place before this happened, which changed everything for Mayweather and his father.

What happened in the meeting between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Sr.? 

While appearing in the ‘All the Smoke Fight’ podcast with Andre Ward, someone Prince has managed in the past, the music mogul turned boxing manager, shed light on how the meeting between Mayweather Jr. and Sr. went down. “What led to that meeting was the disrespect that was taking place where his father and him speaking publicly about one another,” Prince recollected.

Apparently, Prince had contacted Mayweather Jr.’s then-promoter Bob Arum of Top Rank and set up a meeting between the pair to stop them from “publicly disrespect[ing] one another.” Prince, Floyd, Arum, Mayweather Sr., and Todd duBoef were called to a “real nice restaurant out here in Vegas.” But things turned ugly when “I saw a note being passed to Floyd Mayweather(Sr), and one of the first things he asked me, ‘What you give my son to sign?’”

rince tried to calm Sr. down, suggesting they were not there to talk shop, but if Jr. was okay with it, they could proceed. This was met with friction from Jr., who quickly erupted, “’Nah, nah, nah, nah, we ain’t here for that. We ain’t here for that.’” Prince realized Mayweather Sr. was getting agitated by this, as he declared, “’Oh, man, I don’t care for somebody put a bullet in the back of my head.’”

Things escalated further when Mayweather Sr. stood up and started walking towards Prince, which prompted him to say, “Mr. Mayweather, Sir, you seem to be getting angry. But I want you to know I can’t take no punches.” This is when Mayweather Jr. jumped in. “Floyd [Jr.] stood up. Floyd [Jr.] ’s like, ‘No, no, no, no.’ And Floyd [Jr.] started taking his jacket off,” Prince recounted.

Mayweather Jr. had squared up against his own father, leaving Prince in shock. When asked whether Jr. was about to fight his father, Prince claimed, “My reading of it is ‘You got to come through me,’ which I think was a really wise decision.” According to Prince, Floyd Mayweather was ready to fight rather than his father trying to fight Prince, and then they all had to deal with the repercussions.

Prince later ended up breaking things up between the father-son duo, but the damage was done, and things never went back to normal. Mayweather later separated from his father and started taking control of his career. However, the partnership with Prince wouldn’t last long either, as they parted ways in 2003 after a financial dispute. Though the father-son duo mended their relationship years later and are together today, getting to this point was in no way easy, given their history.

That just goes to show how complex the relationship between Floyd Mayweather and his father was.

Floyd Mayweather is widely regarded as one of the greatest boxers in history.

With a perfect 50-0 record, blockbuster wins over stars like Manny Pacquiao, Saul ‘Canelo’ Alvarez, and Conor McGregor, and more than a billion dollars generated in career earnings, it’s no surprise that Mayweather is incredibly wealthy.

Still, even knowing all of that, the figure he once casually revealed to a journalist remains jaw-dropping.

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Journalist’s Reflection on Floyd Mayweather’s Fortune

He remembers the legendary boxer handing him a slip

As Keown recalled, Mayweather discreetly handed him a thermal paper slip, the kind you’d get after a bank transaction. Curious, Keown glanced down and slowly counted the digits printed on it. The total? Over $123 million (£92.7 million) sitting in a single personal account.

“He looks around to make sure nobody is watching before holding out a slip of paper cupped in his right hand. It is a bank slip, and Floyd is watching me watch it as my eyes attempt to focus on the balance. I look at the numbers spread out across the thermal paper.

“I look up to see Floyd smiling. He begins to laugh. I say something unintelligible about too many numbers. I’m not sure what prompted this. I look down one more time to make sure I got it right. And yes, it’s right there, 11 numbers long.