Mayweather offers to help Rousey with boxing

MANILA, Philippines – After defending fallen MMA fighter Ronda Rousey, Floyd Mayweather Jr extends his unexpected character break and is now offering to help Rousey with boxing. 

“I want Ronda Rousey to hold her head up high and don’t let this discourage you. If you need help as far as with boxing, I’m here to help you,” the now-retired boxer told Ben Thompson in an in-depth interview about Rousey on fighthype.com. “It’s all about timing and inches. Her ground game is unbelievable. She’ll be okay.”

Rousey, 28, was knocked out by underdog Holly Holm on Sunday, November 15, at UFC 193. The previously undefeated Rousey lost her women’s bantamweight title and dropped to 12-1 after the shocking loss. Holm was a highly-regarded pro boxer and held 18 titles in 3 separate weight classes.

The 38-year old former pound-for-pound king turned promoter also expressed desire to back up other MMA fighters such as ex-UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who was reinstated in October after getting stripped of his title and suspended early this year for a felony case (hit-and-run).

“I would love to sponsor those guys,” Mayweather said, also mentioning reigning UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier. “I look forward to working with a lot of MMA fighters as far as teaching them boxing techniques. It’s the little small things in contact sports that can take you to that next level.” 

Mayweather, who retired with a 49-0 record after beating Andre Berto in September, also weighed in on the idea of an immediate rematch between Rousey and Holm. 

“Me as a former fighter, I think that she needs some time off to regroup and refocus. I think they’re rushing her,” he said. 

“They need to build Ronda Rousey back up, her confidence back up, even though I think she’s probably still confident. Let Holly fight, defend the title a few times, and build it. That’s what I would do, looking at it as being a former fighter and now promoter. I wouldn’t rush it.” 

“What I would do, I would put them on the same card fighting against different opponents and then slowly build it up. It’s all about timing. That’s what I did with the Pacquiao fight. The fight went from me making 100 million to me making 300 million, so it’s all about timing,” Mayweather added. 

Holm, who is now 10-0 with 7 knockouts, was quick to offer Rousey a chance to avenge her loss, saying “she deserves a rematch.”

UFC president Dana White similarly did not rule out a potential second meeting between the two.

“Obviously, we don’t make fights on the night of the fight, but the rematch makes a lot of sense,” White said after the event in Melbourne, Australia.

Rousey, who has since declared she will be back, returned home Tuesday, November 17, and and was caught on video by TMZ completely hiding her face from paparazzi as she arrived in Los Angeles. – Rappler.com