Floyd Mayweather apologized Wednesday for his comments on the Ray Rice fiasco, adding he doesn’t agree with comparisons between his domestic problems and those of the suspended NFL player.

Mayweather, who is the highest paid athlete in the world with annual earnings of $105 million, has had his own domestic abuse problems, including a stint in jail in 2012.
“If I offended anyone I apologize,” Mayweather said Wednesday. “I apologize to the NFL. I am not perfect. I said things yesterday. I don’t condone what happened.”
“You all shouldn’t be asking me about no football. I aint even an NFL player. I am a boxer, that’s what I do for a living.”
Mayweather pled guilty to domestic abuse charges and spent two months in a Las Vegas jail two years ago. The charges were in connection with an attack on his former girlfriend while their children watched.
The 37-year-old Mayweather was also named in a civil suit last week by his ex-fiancee. Shantel Jackson said Mayweather assaulted her and kept her from leaving his luxury Las Vegas home. She also said he humiliated her by posting on the internet a sonogram showing her pregnant with twins then accused her of aborting them.
Mayweather told reporters Tuesday in Las Vegas that he has been falsely accused in the past.
“With OJ and Nicole you seen the pictures. With Chris Brown and Rihanna you seen the pictures. With (Chad) Ochocinco and Evelyn, you seen pictures. You guys have yet to see any pictures of a battered woman, a woman who says she was kicked and beaten (by Mayweather),” he said ahead of his world title fight against Marcos Maidana Saturday at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino.
NFL star Rice was cut from the Baltimore Ravens and suspended indefinitely when a video surfaced allegedly showing him punching and knocking out in an elevator his former fiancee Janay Palmer. Mayweather said the NFL should have stuck with the initial two-game ban for Rice.
Mayweather said Wednesday he doesn’t want to answer any more questions about Rice and his victim.
“You all worried about some female,” he said. “That shouldn’t even be your focus. It is not my focus.”
Mayweather, who will make close to $50 million for Saturday’s fight, also added he doesn’t condone Rice’s behavior.
But he said that he feels he gets singled out for criticism instead of for his community service, like helping breast cancer victims. Prior to his last fight against Maidana he announced at a press conference he was donating $15,000 to the Susan G. Komen For the Cure foundation.
“I never hear nobody talk about how I fed the homeless and give back to the American citizen,” Mayweather said. “Or how I build homes. Nobody never talks about that. But as soon as there is something negative ….”
Mayweather said sometimes he feels like he is being piled on.
“My name is always brought up with the (Rice) situation. Like I said I apologize. I am not perfect,” he said.
Leonard Ellerbe, chief executive of Mayweather Promotions, then scolded reporters at Wednesday’s news conference, telling them not to ask about the Rice fiasco.
“We don’t need anymore questions about it,” he said. “Floyd is not the one that is under this microscope.
“I want to be very, very clear and we are not going to ask any more of these questions. Period. End of discussions. He has nothing more to say.”
“I am not ducking or dodging no opponent”
Floyd Mayweather, fresh off his lopsided victory over Marcos Maidana, denied he is trying to safeguard his undefeated record by avoiding Filipino superstar Manny Pacquiao.

Mayweather has admitted he handpicked opponents in the past but says there is nothing unscrupulous about not fighting Pacquiao, one of the few fighters who can match the American’s hand speed.
“I am not ducking or dodging no opponent,” said Mayweather, who turns 38 in February. “If a Pacquiao fight presents itself then let’s make it happen.”
Mayweather said Saturday after beating Maidana for the second time in four months that he is open to a fight against Pacquiao, but it would have to be on Mayweather’s terms.
On Sunday, Stephen Espinoza, vice president of sports cable channel Showtime, told the Los Angeles Times that Pacquiao is “absolutely” his first choice as Mayweather’s next opponent.
Mayweather is in the middle of a six-fight deal with Showtime.
In the past, Mayweather (47-0) has always tried to sidestep questions about facing Pacquiao, who is getting set to fight in Macau in November against Chris Algieri.
“Pacquiao needs to focus on the guy in front of him. Then we’ll see what the future holds,” Mayweather said.
Pacquiao and Mayweather have held talks about staging a mega-fight before but they always broke down before a deal could be signed.
It is unlikely Pacquiao would agree to the terms that Maidana did for his rematch, allowing Mayweather to handpick his referee, Kenny Bayless, and change two of the three judges from the first fight.
Mayweather says Pacquiao is too worried about fighting him and forgets to train for his regular fights.
“In the past, if you look at Pacquiao when he fought (Juan Manuel) Marquez, he was too focused on Floyd Mayweather instead of the guy in front of him and you saw what happened,” he said, recalling Pacquiao’s knockout defeat.
“I never think about Pacquiao. That’s not my focus. I could care less what Pacquiao does. If it happens, it happens.
“I want to enjoy my time off. We don’t know who we going to be fighting. We are not in a rush. We are the A side and we are going to take our time.”
Another possible opponent is British boxer Amir Khan, who sat ringside at Saturday’s fight.
“Of course, Amir Kahn would be a potential opponent,” said Leonard Ellerbe, chief executive of Mayweather Promotions. “Amir Khan is a very good fighter, just like a lot of other potential opponents.”
Source : Sapa-AFP /kn