‘I’m thanking Floyd that he has not forgotten me’

By: Allan Nawal, Aquiles Z. Zonio - 11 years ago

Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. FILE PHOTOS

GENERAL SANTOS CITY, Philippines—Boxer-lawmaker Manny Pacquiao on Friday said he was not angry with Floyd Mayweather despite the American boxer’s posting of a manipulated photo of him on Twitter connecting a jab on the Filipino boxer and hinting at Pacman’s tax woes.

“I’m thanking Floyd Mayweather that he has not forgotten me. I’m glad that he is still thinking of me,” Pacquiao told the Inquirer anew.

Asked to comment on Mayweather’s apparent “below the belt” jabs, Pacquiao just begged off.

He said that he was not going to “say anything that would hurt anybody.”

“(God) teaches us to love even our enemies,” the pugilist, who also represents Sarangani province in the House of Representatives, said.

Pacquiao, however, refused to comment on the Inquirer special report on his tax problems in the United States.

“My lawyers will talk about that. I now have a lawyer in the US who is focusing on my problem with the IRS (Internal Revenue Service),” he told the Inquirer on the phone on Friday afternoon.

“I will issue an official statement on that,” he added.

Pacquiao, however, could not say when he would come out with his “official statement” as he still had to talk to his lawyers.

Besides the manipulated photo, Mayweather also tweeted “Let me talk to the IRS about this…”

The undefeated American boxer’s latest tweet was seen as a play on Pacquiao’s woes with the IRS.

The IRS issued a levy on the Filipino boxer’s US bank accounts in an attempt to recoup more that $18 million he had not paid between 2006 and 2010.

The levy was issued after IRS—through its Glendale office in Los Angeles—sent Pacquiao a “notice of federal tax lien” in the amount of $18,313,669 on Nov. 22.

However, Tranquil Salvador said the IRS liens were lifted late last week.

“We have been told that the IRS liens on his properties and bank accounts were vacated on Dec. 20,” Salvador said in an e-mail sent to the Inquirer.

A few days ago, Mayweather posted a collage of photos that aired his take on the proposed “megabout” with Pacquiao. In it, he hinted the fight might not happen at all.

The first picture in the collage depicts Mayweather offering $40 million to Pacquiao. In the next frame, Pacquiao rejects the offer. The third frame recalls Pacquiao’s stunning sixth-round knockout loss to Marquez.

The collage ends with Pacquiao in a praying pose with the caption, “Dear God, Please have Floyd call me again.”

Floyd posted the “meme” with a caption that read: “This is my Christmas card to the world… Happy Sleepy Holidays zzzzzzzzzzzz.”

Pacquiao fans retaliated with a collage of their own even as Pacquiao tried not to mind Mayweather’s attempt at belittling him.