Floyd Mayweather Jr. (left) and Manny Pacquiao. AFP FILE PHOTO
Manny Pacquiao still wants a rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr., three months after the Filipino boxing superstar lost a unanimous decision in their fight last May in Las Vegas.
Pacquiao also believes he should’ve won being the aggressor and with Mayweather “running away all the time.”
“[I would] want to fight Mayweather in a rematch. I’ll be ready for that mentally and physically next year,” Pacquiao told fightnews.com in Tokyo where the Sarangani lawmaker was part of the Philippine delegation sent for the 2019 Fiba World Cup hosting bid.
“He was running away all the time. I was making the fight by stalking him and believe that I deserved a victory,” said Pacquiao.
READ: Pacquiao: ‘Still the people’s champ’
The eight-division champion vowed to show the undefeated Mayweather a “better performance” given a second fight.
“I’ll show a better performance against him than in the first encounter.”
During the post-fight press conference shortly after the record-breaking bout, Pacquiao revealed he was nursing a right shoulder injury that affected his performance.
Mayweather would later blast Pacquiao, whom he called a “sore loser” and “coward” for making an excuse instead of accepting defeat.
A rematch between the two is not likely to happen as of this point with Mayweather already making it clear that his 49th professional fight slated September 12 against Andre Berto will be his last before calling it a career.
Mayweather’s choice of facing Berto, who has lost three out of his last six fights, is deemed by fans and experts as an easy pick for the pound-for-pound king.
Pacquiao underwent surgery on his right shoulder a few days after the fight.
READ: Pacquiao has surgery on injured shoulder, resting
Pacquiao, who said he’s able to rotate his shoulder without any problems, sees it differently.
“It will be a good fight as Andre Berto is fast and strong,” said Pacquiao. TVJ