Floyd Mayweather Jr has denied he is “trolling” Manny Pacquiao by producing a T-shirt that depicts him in front of the Filipino flag.
A vast merchandising operation has been set up to maximise profits from this weekend’s welterweight showdown at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, including ‘The Money Team’ caps costing US$60 (Dh220) and official programmes priced at US$30.
The item causing the biggest stir, however, is the T-shirt designed to provoke Pacquiao, who is a Filipino congressman.
“I’m not trolling anyone. Floyd Mayweather has fans from all around the world. My staff are very diverse,” Mayweather said.
“I have Filipinos who work for me. We have everyone. TMT (The Money Team) for Africa, TMT for Japan, TMT for Canada. We also have TMT for the Philippines.”
Pacquiao has refused to take offence to the appearance of the shirt, joking: “I like that because he wants to join our team. TMT — The Manny Team!”
Mayweather added that he was simply thrilled to be part of a fight that has brought so much attention on boxing in the past week as he looks to make it 48 fights unbeaten in his career.
“When I was a kid, I never thought I’d see a fight bigger than Sugar Ray Leonard against Marvin Hagler,” Mayweather said.
“But I did because then I fought Oscar De La Hoya. And then I fought Saul Alvarez. And now it’s me against Manny.”
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