Floyd Jr. 'not scared' of Pac-Man but says 'health more important'

Floyd Mayweather once again reiterated his stance on Tuesday (Wednesday PHL time) regarding a potential bout with Manny Pacquiao, citing health and financial concerns as reasons why the two camps have yet to put together a deal to make the much-anticipated fight a reality. ESPN's Brett Okamoto reports that despite the press conference being about the upcoming Mayweather-Miguel Cotto bout, the boxer known as "Money" nevertheless spent nearly 10 minutes on a rant about the Fighting Congressman from Sarangani province and why the two have yet to face off inside the ring. Mayweather said that it was "basic common sense" that Pacquiao had used illegal performance-enhancing drugs, citing as evidence the Filipino's ability to continually move up in weight classes without losing strength. "It took me years to get here," said Mayweather. "I'm going up in weight but I'm not walking through no damn fighters. [Pacquiao] is 106; now he decides to walk through [Miguel] Cotto? Cotto can't knock down [Shane] Mosley, but can he?" It is because of this belief that Pacquiao is juicing up that Mayweather considers it a risk to his health to fight him without substantial financial compensation. "Health is more important than anything," he said. "Because guess what? When my career is over, if I'm hurt because of something that has happened in a fight, I can't come to you and say, 'I need [money].'" "People say, 'We don't give a f--- if he's taking or not; we just want to see that fight. We don't give a f--- about your health.'" "I care about my family. I love my family. They're going to be there when no one else is there. When my career is over, you're all going to move on to the next one [fighter]." Last March, Mayweather called Pacquiao to offer him a flat $40 million dollar fee to fight him, with Mayweather getting the pay-per-view receipts. Pacquiao's promoter, Bob Arum, countered with a $50 million offer to Mayweather with Pacquiao getting the PPV money, but that was turned down.   Team Pacquiao then offered a 55-45 split, followed by a 70-30 proposal, with the winner getting the lion's share of the money, but both times Mayweather's camp has refused the offer. It doesn't help that Mayweather is not fond of Arum, who actually represented him when he was young. Said Mayweather, "Don King and Bob Arum don't see out the eyes of a fighter because they're not a fighter." "All they care about is some f------ money. I care about a fighter's well-being because I am a fighter." Drug testing has long been a sticking point in negotiations between the two sides. In the past, Floyd Mayweather demanded Olympic-style drug testing, a bargaining point that Pacquiao later accepted, as long as an organization other than the US Anti-Doping Agency performed the tests. Pacquiao has never tested positive for illegal drugs in his 17-year professional boxing career. Despite that, Mayweather is prepared to end his career without having to face Pacquiao, a fact that he feels, does not make him a coward. "This is how the world is, you get writers saying 'Floyd is scared,'" Mayweather said. "No, Floyd cares about his family. Floyd is smart. You all know for a fact I'm not scared. You all know that."   Mayweather versus Cotto is slated for May 5 (May 6 PHL time) at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. — Adrian Dy/JVP, GMA News