Mayweather lured out of retirement

LOS ANGELES – Floyd Mayweather Jr. is coming out of his shell to fight Manny Pacquiao.

And based on a conversation with his cousin, Janelle Mayweather, the former pound-for-pound king also wants his father, Floyd Sr., to be in his corner when he faces the storm named Pacquiao.

Father and son have been on and off for the last eight years, and a reunion might just take place if a fight between the two superstars are sealed. Mayweather was pound-for-pound king when he retired last year. (Related story A31).

Now he wants to go back to fighting. He wants a piece of Pacquiao.

The Filipino superstar said last Sunday that the Mayweather camp had already sent feelers that should he beat Oscar dela Hoya, Floyd Jr. would come out of retirement to face him.

Pacquiao said he’s willing to do the fight with Floyd Jr. or Ricky Hatton.

Floyd Sr. trained Hatton for his fight against Paul Malignaggi last month. He believes that Hatton has what it takes to beat Pacquiao.

“I like this fight for Rick. We will dismantle Pacquiao. Guaranteed,” he said.

Janelle said Floyd Jr. called her early Sunday morning, shortly after Pacquiao battered Oscar dela Hoya’s beautiful face, and scored a stunning eighth-round stoppage before some 15,000 fans at the MGM Grand.

Janelle said Floyd Jr., a five-division champion and undefeated in 39 fights, also wanted to reunite with his father.

“My niece (Janelle) said my son told her he wanted to fight Pacquiao next, and that he wants me to train him for the fight,” Floyd Sr. told David Mayo of The Grand Rapids Press.

Following his victory over Dela Hoya, Pacquiao may now be the pay-per-view and pound-for-pound king at the same time.

Initial word says that the Pacquiao-Hoya fight sold close to two million pay-per-view hits, and should stand as the second-best for a non-heavyweight fight.

The Mayweather-Dela Hoya fight last year should remain on top with 2.4 million buys.

Janelle also said her conversation with Mayweather Jr. who defeated Dela Hoya and Hatton before announcing his retirement last year, took place last Sunday while she was with some other relatives.

Another cousin, Latisha Starling, said she was on the phone with Janelle while Pacquiao and Dela Hoya slugged it out, giving her some play-by-play of the action going on.

“Right after the fight ended and I hung up, Janelle said her phone rang again and she thought it was me. But it was Little Floyd, saying he wanted to fight Pacquiao and he had to get in touch with his father,” Starling told Mayo.

The boxer’s sister, Fatima Mayweather, also said she got a call from the boxer, but their conversation revolved on the possibility of him hooking up with their father for his comeback fight.

Floyd Jr. became pound-for-pound champion under the stewardship of Roger Mayweather, his uncle.

Janelle said she was concerned about what will happen to her uncle if a reunion between the two Floyds ever happens.

‘What happens to Roger if you do this?’ Janelle told Floyd Jr., and the response was, ‘Oh, there are enough millions to go around, they can both be in my corner.’”

“I will never be dumbfounded by anything in my life again unless contracts are involved,” Floyd Sr. said.

“At the end of the day, he’s still my son, but I’d have to hold him accountable with a contract. I didn’t have a contract first time but I never dreamed it would end like that, either.”

However, he told The Grand Rapids Press that money would not be the principal consideration if he entered talks with his son.