Mayweather's racist spray does sweet science no favours -- Sydney Morning Herald

By Jamie Pandaram, The Sydney Morning Herald

At best, the apology issued by Floyd Mayweather jnr for his racist tirade against rival Manny Pacquiao rings hollow.

Boxing fans understand that Mayweather relishes playing the bad guy in order to boost his pay-per-view sales but this latest, inexplicable rant goes beyond bad taste and acceptability. ''We're going to cook that little yellow chump,'' Mayweather said.

Really Floyd? A man who prides himself on verbal prowess sinks to the lowest denominator of attacking someone's race because he cannot think of any clever insults. What if Pacquiao had said of Mayweather: ''We're going to cook that little black chump?'' The Watts riots would have had nothing on the fallout. Mayweather didn't stop there, saying that after he defeats Pacquiao, he'll force him to ''make some sushi rolls and cook some rice'' and ''we're going to cook him with some cats and dogs'', an obvious reference to the fact Pacquiao started boxing as a youngster after his father ate his dog.

And he again speculated that Pacquiao is a drug cheat, despite the Filipino star agreeing to Mayweather's rigid blood-testing demands for their mooted bout, which has yet to be finalised but shapes to be the highest-grossing fight in history between the two best pugilists of the modern era.

''I'm gonna fight the Pacman when he gets off the power pellets,'' Mayweather said during an eight-minute video spray on the internet.

''We know Pacquiao made $6 million in his last fight and Floyd Mayweather made $65 million in his last fight. That mother f---ing Pacquiao, he can't speak no English.''

Pacquiao responded: ''I just heard about that, but I didn't see the video. But it's an uneducated message.''

Mayweather was back-pedalling yesterday, saying he was ''just having fun''.

''I do want to apologise for what happened the other night, everybody was saying they thought it was a racist comment that came from me. I don't have a racist bone in my body,'' Mayweather said.

''I love everybody. Some of my guys are Muslim, some of my guys are Jews, Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Mexicans, white, it doesn't matter, there's nothing but love in my heart.

"If anybody was affected by what I said the other day, I apologise as a man. Forgive me for what I said, I was just having fun, I didn't really mean it, nothing in a bad way.''

Source: smh.com.au