Muhammad Ali Says He Hasn't Made Pacquiao-Mayweather Pick
Days after it was reported that Muhammad Ali has picked Manny Pacquiao as the victor in his fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr., the legendary fighter is setting the record straight: he has not picked either one of the boxers, who are scheduled to meet in one of the biggest fights in boxing history in May 2 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
"It was reported that Muhammad Ali picked a favorite in the upcoming Mayweather-Pacquiao fight on May 2. Muhammad Ali would like to wish both Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao well in their upcoming fight," said Ali family spokesman Bob Gunnell in a statement given to ESPN on Thursday, April 2.
Earlier this week, Ali's daughter, Rasheda Ali, was quoted by TMZ as saying, "My dad is Team Pacquiao all the way!"
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"My dad really likes Manny. He's a huge fan of his," she told the website. "He knows Manny's a great fighter but it's more about what he does outside the ring. He's such a charitable person."
Rasheda Ali is standing by her original statement.
"It was extremely accurate. It was exactly what I said to the word," she told Boxing Scene just a few hours after Gunnell released his statement to ESPN. "Honestly, truthfully, everything I said was true. He is a fan of Manny."
"For political reasons, or other reasons, or because my dad didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings, Lonnie (Muhammad's wife) didn't want to pick a side," she added.
"After your article came out, Lonnie was fine with it," Rasheda continued. "Other outlets took the story and twisted it around and basically made it seem like my dad was going to be sitting in Manny's corner the night of the fight."
In her statement to TMZ, Rasheda said that her father will not be attending the fight, but he will be watching it at home.
"There's no question he's going to order it," she said. "It takes my dad way back to when he was fighting."
