50 Cent in boxing even without Floyd Mayweather

LAS VEGAS – While Floyd Mayweather Jr. sat in a jail, rapper 50 Cent set about signing fighters and putting together the promotional company he and the boxer had long talked about.

It seemed like a perfect match for two buddies who liked nothing better than to have HBO cameras film them playing with stacks of $100 bills in the “24/7” series. But it fell apart when Mayweather got out of prison and decided that he would rather play with his money than invest it in a boxing company.

The requisite Twitter fight ensued, with all the nastiness that comes with any breakup. But that doesn’t mean 50 Cent isn’t interested in making a real splash in boxing by promoting his former BFF in a fight against, say, Manny Pacquiao.

“I could see myself with the money,” the rapper said in an interview with The Associated Press. “And if you’ve got the money you can make the fight.”

That fight could involve more money than any fight ever, with 50 Cent particularly interested in a reported $180 million offer that promoter Bob Arum has from Dubai. But Mayweather has been reluctant to even discuss the possibility of a Pacquiao fight, and 50 Cent thinks he knows why.

One loss, he said, and Mayweather would probably never fight again.

“It’s all confidence when it comes to Floyd and his confidence wouldn’t be there,” said 50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson. “He kind of hand picks who he fights instead of taking the tough fights.”

Boxing does make strange bedfellows, though there’s nothing strange about 50 Cent’s foray into the sport. He boxed as an amateur while growing up, and his friendship with Mayweather rekindled a love for the sport.

With Mayweather out, he used his own money to sign several fighters.