"Pacquiao had his opportunity. He had his chance. When he had his opportunity and he had his chance, I guess he was tooting his own horn and he felt like he was on the same level as me. It's obvious he felt like he was on the same level as me status-wise because he wouldn't have asked for 50/50. So now, two losses later and he's got a problem...when I offered you $40 million, you turned it down...Pacquiao got IRS problems. Pacquiao got pay-per-view number problems. Pacquiao's boss name is Rob Arum. Pacquiao owes $68 million in taxes. Pacquiao's got 5 losses. He still got Timothy Bradley problems and Marquez problems...So this guy's got all these problems and he wants Floyd Mayweather to solve them for him, huh? First he didn't need me; now he needs me," stated undefeated pound-for-pound king Floyd "Money" Mayweather, who spoke exclusively to FightHype.com about his future plans, including Manny Pacquiao and the reason why a mega-fight won't happen as long as Bob Arum involved. You don't want to miss what he had to say! Check it out!



BT: I know there's been rumors about you fighting Amir Khan in May, but you also said that Maidana's name is in the mix as well. As far as I know, you still haven't made up your mind about your next opponet. Is that still the case?



FM: I am my own boss, but I still communicate with my team, Ben, and my team does have say-so. My team has to have input. Any real boss has a team, but I always do have the last say-so. I'm so motherfuckin' cold in the game, I got heavyweights calling me out. I got fighters that are so desperate to fight me, they making up fake contracts. If the Amir Khan fight presents itself, then you know what? It presents itself. Once again, Amir Khan has a good following, so if it makes business sense, then it makes money. No different from the Ricky Hatton fight; it made sense. Even like the Maidana fight; that fight makes sense. A lot of people believe in Maidana because of the Adrien Broner fight. They think since Adrien Broner has a style similar to mine, they think Maidana can crack the MayVinci Code.



BT: There's also been some rumblings about you possibly fighting in New York. Is there any chance of that happening in the near future?



FM: The MGM Grand is the mecca of boxing. No disrespect to New York City or Madison Square Garden, because it's always been one of my dreams to fight in New York City at Madison Square Garden, but when you fight at the MGM Grand, that's the mecca of boxing. You get to come out to Las Vegas and you get to go see the shows on The Strip, you get to shop late, you get to go to strip clubs. We got a very, very diverse variety of night clubs. You get to party; you get to do a little bit of everything when you come out to Las Vegas. I'm not going nowhere and fighting where everything closes at 2 AM. When you come to Las Vegas for a Mayweather fight, it's an event. You just don't know who you're going to meet at a Mayweather fight. And believe me, it's nothing but a building full of A, B, and C-listers, and all I'm doing every fight is constantly breaking my own records. Whoever I'm fighting coming up in May, I'ma pay myself whatever I want to pay myself, but you best believe it will never be under $32 million. My guarantee will never be under $32 million; never! You gotta realize, I go to other countries just to shake hands for a 6-figure check.



BT: Let's talk about the whole Pacquiao situation for a minute. Coming off of his win over Brandon Rios, people were quick to declare that's he back in top form and ready for a fight with you.



FM: They say Manny Pacquiao is back? Why? Because he beat a blown-up lightweight? I like Brandon Rios. He's got heart, but Brandon Rios is a blown-up lightweight. Pacquiao did come from a smaller weight class, but he's been at the heavier weight classes longer than Brandon Rios. At least they should've let Brandon Rios get a tune-up fight before they just let the kid just jump up to welterweight. They should've just gave him a body, a cab driver, so he could get a feel of the weight class first. Pacquiao has experience fighting at the weight.



BT: Can you explain why, at one point, you took the time to call him personally to try and make the fight, but now, you've made it clear that you won't be fighting him as long as Arum is still in the picture?



FM: Pacquiao had his opportunity. He had his chance. When he had his opportunity and he had his chance, I guess he was tooting his own horn and he felt like he was on the same level as me. It's obvious he felt like he was on the same level as me status-wise because he wouldn't have asked for 50/50. So now, two losses later and he's got a problem...the IRS. They don't play. I don't really personally know his business and I could care less about his business. I'm just speaking from what I hear, that he got a problem with the IRS, both here and in his country. So when I offered you $40 million, you turned it down. I offered Manny Pacquiao $40 million and he said he wanted 50/50. So now, you took two back-to-back losses, and from what I hear, I don't know for a fact, but from what I hear, you got tax problems and now you're begging to get the fight. You could care less if you win; all you want to do is fight Floyd Mayweather to clean up a tax bill basically. He's got a $68 million tax problem now. He couldn't put ten fights together and make $68 million, so now, who is he chasing?



He don't need to be focused on Floyd Mayweather. He need to be focused on that tax business. I don't knock him for doing it, but all the cards are in my hand. It's not about working harder; it's about working smarter. To become pound-for-pound, I proved myself. To be 45 and 0, I proved myself. To dominate for 17 years, I proved myself. I don't have nothing else to prove to nobody else. I can retire; he can't. I just look at the situation like this, worst comes to worst, I'm still going to get at least $200 million for the rest of my contract. Let's talk facts! If he's on the same level as me, let's see his pay-per-view numbers. If he's on the same level as me, let's see his last check. They let my $41.5 million check leak. So now, let me see his check from his last fight leak. Pacquiao got IRS problems. Pacquiao got pay-per-view number problems. Pacquiao's boss name is Rob Arum. Pacquiao owes $68 million in taxes. Pacquiao's got 5 losses. He still got Timothy Bradley problems and Marquez problems.



So this guy's got all these problems and he wants Floyd Mayweather to solve them for him, huh? He's got 68 million problems and he wants me to solve them. First he didn't need me; now he needs me. He's willing to do anything now after his career done took a major setback. First he wanted 50/50; now he's like, "Floyd, give me anything. Throw an old, desperate dog a bone." This man got 68 million problems. Now he wants Floyd Mayweather to solve his problems when he was just saying he's on the same level as me. He basically told me, "Fuck you! I don't need you. I don't need your $40 million. I'm getting the same type of money you getting." So if you getting the same type of money I'm getting, you don't need me. If you doing the same type of pay-per-view numbers I'm doing, you don't need me. I want to see the pay-per-view numbers. As a matter of fact, ever since he's been fighting on pay-per-view, I want to see his residual checks; the money that comes in on the backend, I want to see those checks. I don't know what their relationship is, but I'm not doing business with Rob Arum.



BT: Touch on that for a minute if you can. I know we've talked about it in the past, but why don't you want to do business with Arum? He recently came on record and said you guys have a good relationship.



FM: I don't have a good relationship with him. Why does he want to do business with a coward? When I left [Top Rank], he said something about I was scared of Antonio Margarito and all this, right? Where's he at now and where am I at? They claimed Castillo won the fight; where's he at now and where am I at? We can keep going on and on. All I gotta say is where are they at now, and where am I at? It's so crazy; I be looking at fighters like Pacquiao. I know Rob Arum gonna eat, Michael Koncz gonna eat; all of them are on a percentage basis. Guess what! Michael Kon...What's his name? Michael Con-Artist [Koncz]? Michael Con-Artist wouldn't be my manager if I was in the boxing game. What's so crazy is a long time ago, Pacquiao should have got with Al Haymon and we would've got his career together. But sometimes, they don't listen. A hard head makes a soft ass. When I gave him the opportunity to fight me, he didn't take it, and then, he was sleeping on that MGM canvas. I don't know how that feels, but he can take it every which way, if he feels more comfortable laying on his face or on his back. In life, it's about moving forwad. As far as the Rob Arum situation, I left him to become my own boss. With age comes wisdom and growth. All that would've, could've, should've; what I would've done? Yeah, when his name was holding some decent weight. This guy's numbers done dropped so heavy. He got knocked out, so he [Arum] took him to the other side of the planet to fight. Pacquiao had one of the worst knockouts in boxing history. If my fighter was knocked out like that, I'd get him out the sport, period.



BE SURE TO CHECK BACK SOON FOR MUCH MORE WITH FLOYD "MONEY" MAYWEATHER



[NOTE: For more on Floyd Mayweather, visit his websites at www.TheMoneyTeam.com and www.FloydMayweather.com ]