Mayweather blasts Pacquiao after talks collapse

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Floyd Mayweather Jr. launched a verbal jab at Filipino WBO welterweight champion Manny Pacquiao on Thursday after talks to revive their planned mega-fight collapsed.

"Throughout this whole process I have remained patient, but at this point I am thoroughly disgusted that Pacquiao and his representatives are trying to blame me for the fight not happening when clearly the blame is on them," Mayweather said in a statement.

"First and foremost, not only do I want to fight Manny Pacquiao, I want to whip his punk ass."

A World Boxing Organization welterweight title bout slated for March 13 against Mayweather in Las Vegas was expected to be among boxing's biggest revenue-producing fights.

The bout, widely considered to have matched the best pound-for-pound boxers in the world, was called off on Wednesday when Mayweather's demand for Olympic-style dope testing was rejected by Pacquiao.

Pacquiao's promoters announced on Thursday they will probably name a fresh opponent before the end of the week.

"We expect Manny to fight in March," a spokesman for Top Rank told Reuters.

"We're working on an opponent for him and we should have something finalized in a day or two."

Mayweather said he offered a compromise but Pacquiao refused to bend.