INQUIRER Sports

LOS ANGELES—Going by the statements of trainer Floyd Mayweather Sr., the father of one potential Manny Pacquiao foe and the trainer of another, the Filipino ring icon should be in for a very busy 2009.

Mayweather said his son, Floyd Jr., has sent feelers to the family that he wants to challenge Pacquiao in a fight that could be a battle for the mythical pound-for-pound title.

And that loquacious honer also added that he is ready to prepare beer-guzzling Ricky Hatton for a Pacquiao dismantling.

"My niece said my son told her he wanted to fight Pacquiao next, and that he wants me to train him for the fight," Mayweather Sr. told mlive.com.

Mayweather has been estranged from his son for the last eight years but also revealed to the boxing website that “Pretty Boy” had left a “cryptic message” on his phone that hinted on a possible mending of bridges in a bid to bring down Pacquiao.

But Mayweather told yet another website that he is also open to training Hatton, with whom he is currently linked with, in a possible clash with the reigning pound-for-pound champion.

“We will dismantle Pacquiao,” Floyd Sr. told fighthype.com.

“If they want Rick, they’re going to get Rick and it won’t be pretty for them. I love this fight for Rick.”

Pacquiao, on the other hand, says he has no preference among the two big names linked to him.

“My job is to prepare for a fight and train as hard as I can,” he said. “It’s the job of my promoter to negotiate for my next opponent.”

Meanwhile, Top Rank chief Bob Arum said the “Dream Match” where Pacquiao totally crushed Oscar De La Hoya into virtual retirement is well on its way to becoming the second best grossing non-heavyweight fight in terms of pay-per-view purchases.

The top sport still belongs to the Mayweather-De La Hoya fight last year, which Floyd Jr. won via decision.

De La Hoya’s loss to Pacquiao made it the second time that the Golden Boy has lost to a holder of the pound-for-pound title, unofficially awarded by Ring Magazine to the best fighter across different weight classes.

But Floyd Sr. said De La Hoya was not to blame for the defeat.

“There was a lot of stuff in that camp that was counter-productive to Oscar’s training,” the elder Mayweather told mlive.com, citing sources who kept him up-to-date with De La Hoya’s progress at Big Bear Camp in California.

“The trainers never really came up with a strategy. They had nothing and you could see that during the fight. “

Bernice Mayweather told the mlive.com reporter, David Mayo, that she was not surprised to hear five-division champion Floyd Jr. (39-0)—whose fight against De La Hoya Dec. 8 last year was his last—wants to fight Pacquiao.

“I always said he was going to fight again,” she told Mayo. “It was just a matter of time. He was waiting until the time is right. And the time is right. I knew he was going to come out of retirement—he did it before, didn't he?”

Mayweather Sr. split with his son in 2001 after several disagreements, leaving the flashy boxer under the tutelage of his brother, Roger, who guided Floyd Jr. to become mythical pound-for-pound king.