Naturally, Floyd Mayweather has now put in his two cents for the same-sex marriage conversation and, shocker, has taken the polar opposite position of his arch enemy. And, for a second, you might think, “This is nice. He’s using his celebrity to promote equality for all.” But then you’ll realize this is Floyd Mayweather and he is merely just fanning the flames of his contentious rivalry with Pacquiao and once again trying to make him look like the bad guy. If only these two could just settle their differences with some sort of fight. Oh, right.

Here’s Mayweather’s decree on Twitter, and although he didn’t mention Pacquiao, his intentions were quite obvious:

I stand behind President Obama & support gay marriage. I’m an American citizen & I believe people should live their life the way they want.

— Floyd Mayweather (@FloydMayweather) May 16, 2012

So, to recap, Floyd Mayweather: racist, but definitely not homophobic. Good to know.

Photo credit: Ed Mulholland-US PRESSWIRE

Pacquiao was scheduled to do an interview with Extra’s Mario Lopez at The Grove on Wednesday, but that event was canceled. A Grove spokesman told LA Weekly it was canceled because of Pacquiao’s anti-gay marriage beliefs.

“Based on news reports of statements made by Mr. Pacquiao we have made it be known that he is not welcome at The Grove and will not be interviewed here now or in the future. The Grove is a gathering place for all Angelenos and not a place for intolerance.”

Pacquiao, apparently feeling the backlash, attempted some damage control.

“I’m not against gay people,” Pacquiao wrote on his website. “I have a relative who is also gay. We can’t help it if they were born that way. What I’m critical of are actions that violate the word of God. I only gave out my opinion that same-sex marriage is against the law of God.”

So let’s get this straight: Pacquiao has nothing against gay people, he just doesn’t want them getting married. That may fly in the Philippines, but there are plenty of people in the United States who think like The Grove and don’t believe gay people should be denied those rights.

UPDATE: Mario Lopez told The Associated Press that the ban was only temporary and that he is allowed back.

H/T Off the Bench

Roach told Lance Pugmire of the LA Times that Pacquiao was served divorce papers by his wife Jinkee the night before his fight with Marquez. That explains why he was distracted, and why he tried to renew their vows. It also explains all the lifestyle changes Pacquiao has made recently.

“He’s given away his cockfighting farm [in the Philippines], sold his casino and his nightclub,” Roach said.

Roach described a pre-Marquez climate that included “girls and everything that goes with it,” late nights of gambling and excessive physical wear playing too many games of basketball.

“Now, he’s back with his wife, reading the Bible every day, and he’s given up basketball,” Roach said.

So all of Pacquiao’s recent changes have been inspired by his desire to get his wife back. With a stabilized home life, maybe Pac Man will be at his peak when he faces Tim Bradley in June.

“For two years Pacquiao has said that he will take any drug test, whoever administers it, so why is that still being talked about by Mayweather?” Arum said according to Sports Radio Interviews. “You see Mayweather is from the school of propaganda that Joseph Goebbels, who was (Adolf) Hitler’s publicist, adopted. The more you say things over and over again the more people believe them.”

Arum also said that Pacquiao’s side has proposed a number of scenarios in which the fighters would split the money evenly and Mayweather continues to turn them down. As for why, Arum had some similar thoughts to the ones we shared with you earlier from Pacquiao’s trainer.

“Look one thing about Floyd he’s a genius when it comes to boxing. He would be a great matchmaker,” he said. “He knows styles and the fact is he knows that it would be extremely difficult for him to beat Pacquiao because Pacquiao is a fast, left-hander who hits with tremendous power in his left hand. I promoted Floyd for over 10 years and anytime you raised the prospect with him of fighting a southpaw he went crazy. Now with Pacquiao who has all that power and all that speed he doesn’t want Pacquiao. It’s clear. Everything he says is an excuse.”

Freddie Roach, Pacquiao’s trainer, says he will have Manny fight right-handed if that’s what it takes to make the fight happen. If it’s Pacquiao’s crew that is preventing the fight from happening, they’re doing a much better job of disguising it than Mayweather is.

Photo credit: Kirby Lee-US PRESSWIRE

“Would Manny beat Floyd? You bet,” Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach said Tuesday according to The Ring. “The way to beat Floyd is to outwork him every minute of every round. Manny is the only fighter capable of executing that game plan.

“Activity kills Mayweather. You need to stay busy against him and not let him dictate the pace by slowing down the fight. Southpaws are his other weakness. Manny is just a bad combination for Floyd to fight. If it would bring Floyd into the ring, I’d agree to have Manny fight him right-handed.”

Pacquiao said that he watched the Mayweather-Cotto fight but is focusing on his June 9 fight against Tim Bradley. While there has been some recent speculation that Pacquiao’s newfound relationship with God may influence him to retire, he insists he has no plans to do so. Even still, it’s unlikely the fight will ever happen.

Photo credit: Chris Cozzone-US PRESSWIRE

There were rumors all day Saturday that Justin Bieber was going to accompany Floyd Mayweather Jr. to the ring for his fight with Miguel Cotto, and that proved to be true. The singer and entertainer carried Mayweather’s title belts to the ring in one of the most awkward pairings we’ve ever seen. Rapper 50 Cent also accompanied Floyd to the ring as usual, but Bieber just didn’t seem to fit in.

As you can see in the picture above on the right, Bieber also joined Floyd in the ring to celebrate the win. Yup, Bieber, Lil’ Wayne, 50 Cent, and Floyd. The strange thing is Beiber is not the most awkward member of Floyd’s entourage we’ve ever seen. That award goes to this man.

Many have labeled it the fight that will never happen, and the more time that passes the more likely those people are to be correct. For a number of reasons which we have heard over a period of what feels like a lifetime, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao will probably never square off in the boxing ring. One second it’s for financial reasons and the next it has to do with drug testing. It’s getting to the point where it hardly matters, because clearly talking about it isn’t going to get anything done.

However, for those of you who believe it is Mayweather ducking Pacquiao and not the other way around, Floyd had a message for you during an interview with Tim Dahlberg of the Associated Press on Tuesday. In fact, he had several messages.

“You all think I’m scared, I’m a coward? Well guess what? I’m a rich, scared coward. I’m a rich coward,” Mayweather said. “And if that’s the case, why the hell would you want to watch me? I don’t want to watch no coward. I don’t want to watch nobody who’s scared and you all know for a fact I’m not scared. You all know that.

“So, you’re an American, right? I’m an American,” he told Dahlberg. “I was in the Olympics. I represent the red, white and blue. You know what the American writers should say? `Well, why’s this guy from another country who comes over here and makes money taking it back to his country?

“Once again, I’m feeding American citizens every day. All I ask is give a little blood, give a little urine. That’s a crime?”

Dahbler noted that the fight is probably never going to happen because Mayweather is convinced Pacquiao took steroids. Whether you believe that or not is your own prerogative, but Floyd seems to think it’s completely obvious.

“Go back and look at the pictures,” Mayweather argued. “First, his head is small. Then, all of a sudden, his head just grew? Come on, man. Stop! Stop this man! Come on, man! This (stuff’s) so easy. Ray Charles can see this (stuff). Come on. Come on, now! Come on, man. I told you, it’s basic common sense. Look at the pictures and tell me this man’s head didn’t get bigger? This man probably went from a seven and one-fourth to an eight. In a hat, a fitted hat. And you’re going to tell me this (stuff) is all natural? Come on, man. Stop this. I’m going up in weight, but I ain’t just walking through no damn fighters.”

So there you have it. Mayweather thinks Pacquiao took steroids, and there’s nothing you can say to make him think otherwise. Either that, or he’s just plain scared to fight the man who many call the best pound-for-pound fighter in boxing history. Does it really make a difference at this point?

H/T Off the Bench
Photo credits: Kirby Lee-US PRESSWIRE, Ed Mulholland-US PRESSWIRE

“The nickname ‘Money’ came from when I was joking and throwing money into the camera, so it stuck with me,” Mayweather explained during a media day last week. “You can’t be a 35-year-old man calling yourself ‘Pretty Boy.’”

Alright, so that makes sense. There are plenty of people who ditch their childhood nickname for a “grown up” name when they get older, and I guess Floyd is no exception.

We know there’s at least another famous person who agrees with this approach.

Cedric the Entertainer did an entire bit on “The Original Kings of Comedy” about being too old to call someone “Delicious.” It’s true — you can’t be calling for your friend down the street and yelling out “Delicious!” That stuff only flies when you’re 15, not 35.

As for the original nickname, there is some confusion regarding its origin. Although he is extraordinarily vain, Floyd never called himself “Pretty Boy.” He actually got the nickname when he was coming up as a boxer because people noticed he always emerged from his fights without any cuts or bruises.

As for the “Money” nickname, well, we know he embraces that.

Mayweather was speaking with the media to promote his fight with Miguel Cotto on May 5 and said 50 Cent will escort him into the ring for the bout. That’s when he explained that 50 will be getting more involved in boxing.

“Well 50 is getting involved with boxing far as getting involved with fighters, because he boxed at one particular time in South Side Jamaica Queens and I had a chance of actually going to his neighborhood and he was a rough, rough kid, tough. But we don’t just have a friendship, we have a tremendous bond, we have a tremendous bond. But to answer your question far as with boxing, I think he’s going to be involved on the promotion side, we may even put him there let him fight on pay-per-view one time. So we don’t really know what the future holds, but he is getting involved with boxing,” Mayweather said.

50 began boxing around the age of 11. The rapper even competed in the Junior Olympics as an amateur fighter.

Though he hasn’t fought professionally, 50 Cent has many interests beyond the music industry. He is an actor, he has a clothing line, and he’s involved in several other ventures. Given his business acumen, and relationship with Floyd Mayweather, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see him have plenty of success in the fight game. Hopefully, his debut will go a lot better than this meathead’s did.

H/T Bryan A. Graham

“People want to know how much power Floyd Mayweather got,” Mayweather answered when asked about President Obama on an HBO special. “I can guarantee you this. I show you how much power I got, if I was to fight Manny Pacquiao, I’d let Barack Obama walk me to the ring holding my belt. Can I make it happen, absolutely.”

It’s a good thing Mayweather is an entertainer because he sure is funny. Think about the way he phrased that comment. He’d let Barack Obama walk him to the ring. Yeah, I’m sure the pleasure would be all Barack’s, Floyd. Good call on that one.

Hey, at least Obama would be a step up from Mark Cuban.