Mayweather willing to rematch Pacquiao

This whole thing really sucks. I thought we finally got some closure on the never-ending debate of who the best fighter of this generation is (and in my mind we have), but controversy and boxing seem to be attached at the hip. Not only did Pacquiao and his team bring up a shoulder injury as an excuse (or "reason," if you think there's a difference) for a performance they weren't exactly proud of, but they also went on to accuse the NSAC of sabotage.

Completely disregarding the laughable sabotage claims, the injury itself is pretty clearly legitimate. I, for one, didn't see Pacquiao being noticeably impaired by any injury during the fight, but, you know, that doesn't necessarily mean it didn't affect him. Then again, rarely is there a top-level fighter that enters the ring without some kind of physical ailment, so that can be considered par for the course (Mayweather says he had two bad shoulders and sore hands entering this fight). Either way, the fact that Manny has surgery scheduled and will be out for the next 9-12 months pretty much speaks for itself. The more unfortunate part is that we'll now hear people all over say how Mayweather's victory means very little and that his win doesn't prove he's the better fighter - blah blah blah.

The double-edge sword here, for Manny Pacquiao anyway, is that his proclamations about the injury has also opened himself up to possible perjury charges for not disclosing it to the commission - which is a whole other ball of wax. The commission has said that by Manny not revealing the injury, and then requesting painkilling injections just prior to the bout, he put them in a uncomfortable position.

"It's not just the fact he didn't fill out the question completely, it was that he wasn't honest and they didn't tell us a month ago when he had the shoulder injury," Nevada Athletic Commission executive director Bob Bennett said. "They're not obligated to, but two hours before the fight they wanted a shot that's a painkiller, in essence. That put us in a very precarious position."

So what did Mayweather have to say when he heard of all the injury reports from Team Pacquiao after the fight? He reached out to Stephen A. Smith of ESPN.

"I will fight him in a year after his surgery," Mayweather texted Smith on the heels of his unanimous decision over Pacquiao in the richest fight ever.

How could this be possible when Floyd says that his final fight will be taking place in September? Well, Floyd concedes that he too is only human, and that means that he sometimes contradicts himself. A lot of folks out there never believed for a second that Mayweather would truly hang 'em up for good in September, and it's very possible that he won't. Another big payday could lure Mayweather to come back to fight Pacquiao for a second time which would also provide him the chance to break Rocky Marciano's record. The real question is, how much money is in another Pacquiao fight after this last one? My guess would be a heck of a whole lot less.