Floyd Mayweather talks of Miguel Cotto bout, Manny Pacquiao

Floyd "Money" Mayweather Jr. always has a lot to say.

Controversial and politically incorrect, you always know when Mayweather is in the room.

Mayweather had much to say during his news conference at the Apollo Theater on Tuesday to promote his May 5 bout against Miguel Cotto at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.

As has been the case the last few years, most of the questions were regarding a potential bout with Manny Pacquiao, not about Cotto (37-2, 30 KOs), who is considered one of the best boxers in the world, a future Hall-of-Famer and the kind of fighter who could be a challenge for Mayweather (42-0, 26 KOs).

Mayweather tried to keep Cotto at the forefront of the conversation, but reporters continued to press him about Pacquiao.

Mayweather, who scored a fourth-round knockout of Victor Ortiz on Sept. 17, put a damper on the idea that a bout between the two could happen anytime soon and said "absolutely not" when asked if he will ever fight Pacquiao.

"The only way that fight will happen is if he leaves Bob Arum," Mayweather said. "And I'm not telling him to leave Bob Arum."

Drug testing was the initial sticking point. Mayweather wanted Olympic-style drug testing, but Pacquiao refused.

Now the problem is money.

Pacquiao, who is fighting Tim Bradley on June 9, said at a news conference last week that he offered Mayweather a deal that included $50-million guarantees for both fighters and a 55-45 split of the pay-per-view revenue, with the winner getting the larger share.

Mayweather countered with an offer that included just a flat rate and no cut of the PPV revenue for Pacquiao. "If I offered him $30 million, he should be happy," Mayweather said. "If he faces Floyd Mayweather, he's not getting 50-50."

Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin was also a topic of interest. And Mayweather chided the media for not telling the entire story. Earlier this month, the boxer tweeted that Lin was receiving national attention because of his race, rather than his exceptional play.

"Let [the media] also put everything that I said out there," Mayweather said. "I said Jeremy Lin was a good player."

He also talked with Spike Lee, a longtime Knicks fan who responded via Twitter to Mayweather's initial comments about Lin. Mayweather didn't appear overly bothered with Lee, though.

"I spoke to Spike Lee. He just said 'there's no hard feelings,' " Mayweather said. "I said 'I'm not mad because I don't know what you said anyway.' "

As for his opinions on Cotto, Mayweather had nothing but good things to say.

"Miguel Cotto is a solid junior middleweight, a strong champion," Mayweather continued. "He comes from a great boxing background in Puerto Rico and I come from a fighting family, so come May 5, it's going to be exciting."

Cotto scored a ninth-round stop in his rematch against Antonio Margarito on Dec. 3.