Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao fight news: Boxing legend Muhammad Ali rooting for Pacquiao

Muhammad AliWikimedia Commons

There have been a lot of boxing greats who have bared who they would side with this May 2, 2015 when Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. face off. They are of course divided though it seems that many are siding with the undefeated Mayweather because of his ring mastery and of course undefeated record.

However there is one iconic boxer who is siding with Pacquiao – Muhammad Ali.

Such was revealed through TMZ by Ali's daughter, Rasheda who stressed that her dad likes Pacquiao and is actually a huge fan. But what got Ali's interest was actually what Pacquiao does outside the ring, indirectly referring to Pacquiao's acts of charity.

It was initially expected that Ali would side with fellow American Floyd Mayweather Jr. They shared practically the same showmanship and style. However, Rasheda made it clear that it was how Pacquiao stood for things, the same way that her dad did that swayed him to root for the Filipino fighter.

Pacquiao has been known to share his wealth to worthy causes compared to Mayweather who would use his fortunes on various social media outlets. That difference alone seemed to be important for the former boxing heavyweight champion.

Though he did pledge his support to Pacquiao, Ali will not be on hand to witness the fight in the flesh apparently due to health constraints. However, Rasheda did affirm that her father would be ordering to watch the fight from home via pay-per-view.

Ali is currently battling Parkinsons disease and such has become a reason for him not to see up and close the fight of the century.

Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao get it on in about a month (May 2, 2015) at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. As of this writing, Mayweather is a 2-1 favorite.