by David P. Greisman

His opponent for this month’s Wrestlemania 24 is 7 feet tall and weighs 441 pounds, but welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. has other big things on his mind.

“Lately I’ve been upset with my uncle Roger,” Mayweather said Thursday on a conference call promoting the March 30 wrestling extravaganza. “My uncle Roger has been training Steve Forbes. That’s taking money out of my pocket.”

Forbes is the 31-year-old former junior lightweight titlist handpicked to face Oscar De La Hoya this May on HBO. Forbes’ trainer, Roger Mayweather, is also the longtime chief second to nephew Floyd.

De La Hoya hired Freddie Roach to train him for his May 2007 split decision loss to Mayweather. Now, though, he is working once again with Floyd’s father and Roger’s brother, Floyd Mayweather Sr.

To De La Hoya, Forbes is a smaller, quicker boxer who will help get him prepared for a September rematch with Mayweather. But that’s not how Mayweather sees things. Rather, he believes Roger is jeopardizing the best-laid plans – a Forbes victory could cost De La Hoya his shot at revenge, in turn costing both Mayweathers lucrative cuts of the pay-per-view take.

“Right is right and wrong is wrong,” Floyd Mayweather said. “He must realize this. With him training Steve Forbes, he’s taking a ton of money out of his own mouth.

“I told him on numerous occasions, ‘Do not train Steve Forbes,’ ” he said. “And he’s training the guy at my boxing gym.”

Mayweather said he hasn’t spoken with his uncle in nearly a month, when they saw each other at one of Floyd’s many birthday parties. There’s been no falling out, he said, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be a change in his corner.

“If it’s not done within a couple of weeks, then I’m going to get a new trainer,” Mayweather said. “I may have to pay my dad more than what Oscar De La Hoya is paying him.”

David P. Greisman may be reached for questions and comments at fightingwords1@gmail.com