MANILA, Philippines – Unbeaten American fighter Floyd Mayweather Jr. is not a big fan of the moniker that fellow champion Andre Ward has chosen for himself, “S.O.G,” which stands for Son of God.

In an interview with Fight Hype, Mayweather said that while Ward has a right to choose “whatever name” for himself, he is uncomfortable with the moniker “Son of God.” 

“He calls himself S.O.G. If I’m not mistaken, that stands for Son of God. Last time I checked, we’re all God’s children,” Mayweather said.

Ward, a former Olympic gold medalist and the super-middleweight champion, is a devout Christian who told the UK Daily Mail that his “ultimate goal” is to be a minister. 

“Listen man, if you’re going to be a pastor, go to church. If you’re going to be a reverend, go to church,” Mayweather said. “If you’re going to be a boxer, be a boxer.”

“I mean, one minute, they want to say all this S.O.G. stuff, and the next minute, they wanna go put tattoos on they body. I ain’t never seen a pastor boxing. I ain’t never seen a reverend boxing,” he added.

“I say a prayer that my opponent lives to fight another day, and I live to fight another day. You got these guys trying to hurt a man on Saturday and then going to praise the Lord on Sunday.”

Mayweather did say that “believing in God is not a bad thing at all,” but draws the line when boxers say that God is on their side.

“When one fighter is facing another fighter, God don’t choose sides. What’s going to happen in life is going to happen. Everything is already planned out,” he said.

Ward’s manager, James Prince, released a statement to Boxing Scene criticizing Mayweather for his attack on Ward.

“First of all, I don’t know what demonic spirit jumped into Mayweather causing him to try to assassinate my fighter’s character because he is a fighter and a man of God – as if it’s a sin to worship God and fight,” Prince said.

He added that Mayweather’s attacks “show his ignorance in the word of God because there are prophets throughout the Bible that were fighters, warriors, hit men – and none of them were punks.”

Prince believes Mayweather only criticized Ward because the other fighter expressed support for Mayweather’s May 4 opponent, Robert Guerrero.

“For Mayweather to attack a man’s spirituality because he has been friends with Robert Guerrero since they were kids and he’s riding with him is just an excuse to voice his haterism that’s really in his heart,” said Prince.

Ward, for his part, kept his response short and simple, telling Fight Hype: “If Floyd Mayweather has a problem with me or something that I said, he can pick up the phone and we can talk about it like men.”