An unlikely feud is taking shape. Though comfortably retired, four-division champion Roy Jones Jr. has returned to the limelight to hit back at Floyd Mayweather. But the question is—why? What started this beef between two boxing greats? Well, all this began years ago, to be real! Now, though, it has culminated into a fiery back-and-forth. “Floyd Mayweather was TBE at making money, but look at his highlights and look at mine,” Jones Jr. had said in a 2018 interview. 

“You can’t pretend it’s the same. You can’t pretend there’s ever been anyone [who] came close to doing what I did.” If this jab in the past wasn’t enough, the 56-year-old’s take on Mayweather hasn’t changed much in recent days either. “To me, people don’t give him enough credit. People always say ‘Well, Floyd would have beaten Sugar.’ No baby, Floyd is not nearly as mean as Sugar was,” Jones Jr. said while comparing Mayweather to Sugar Ray Leonard during an appearance on All The Smoke Fight podcast. 

Floyd Mayweather’s response to all this? The undefeated boxing legend hopped on Instagram earlier this month to share a handful of clips, where he can be seen watching Jones Jr. getting knocked out by Glen Johnson, Antonio Tarver, and others. This was a clear jab at Jones Jr. for the things he had said about Mayweather, sparking a conversation among fans. However, ‘Captain Hook’ isn’t one to sit back idly as his legacy gets tarnished by ‘Money’ Mayweather. 

Taking to his Instagram account earlier today, Jones Jr. shared a clip, captioned, “Public service announcement.” Meanwhile, in the clip, Jones Jr. said, “I know we play games and people have the issues and people have opinions. It’s cool too.” Jones Jr.’s calm demeanor was cutting through the tension that had built up between him and Mayweather over the years. “I got opinions and I’m allowed to say my opinions or speak my opinions.”

But he wasn’t done. Roy Jones Jr. also attached a reminder for Mayweather, “If somebody was trying to send me a subliminal message, it worked because if you want to prove that you’re better than me, I’m always ready to go.” While it’s not entirely out of the question that this feud could lead to a boxing match—especially with the recent trend of veteran fighters making comebacks—the likelihood remains slim.

Floyd Mayweather retired from the sport back in 2017, and Jones Jr. initially hung up his gloves in 2018, but returned for one bout against Anthony Pettis in 2023. Regardless, it’s not just Jones Jr. who is bad-mouthing Floyd Mayweather. 

Manny Pacquiao claims Floyd Mayweather is ‘scared to death’

Eight-division champion Manny Pacquiao has reignited talks of a fight against Floyd Mayweather, but he isn’t optimistic about the fight ever happening because he thinks Mayweather is afraid. Ahead of his comeback bout against Mario Barrios on July 19, Pacquiao shared his thoughts on a potential sequel to their 2015 mega-fight, which remains the highest-selling pay-per-view in boxing history. 

Even though there’s hype behind a rematch, ‘Pac-Man’ believes ‘Money’ wants no part of it. “I don’t think Floyd Mayweather will fight me again. He’s scared to death to fight again, that’s what I’m thinking,” Pacquiao told Covers. “It’s a huge fight, but there’s a lot of reasons or alibis he didn’t make [the rematch]. Lots of excuses, I guess.” 

Floyd Mayweather clearly has loads of detractors—whether it’s Roy Jones Jr., who downplayed Mayweather’s abilities, or Manny Pacquiao, who called him scared. It’s yet to be seen whether Mayweather comes back with another response, but what do you make of the situation?