Boxing great Floyd Mayweather to cover George Floyd's funeral cost

Boxing great Floyd Mayweather has offered to cover the funeral expenses for George Floyd, the 46-year-old African-American man who died in police custody in Minneapolis last week leading to massive protests across the United States.

The former five-division world champion’s promotional company, Mayweather Productions, confirmed on Twitter that he had made the offer, and several local media reports have said the family have accepted.

Mayweather Productions and the boxer’s agency have yet to respond to a request for comment.

A day earlier, Floyd's family lawyer said his funeral will be held June 9 in Houston.

"In Minneapolis, there will be a memorial here Thursday, at 1:00 to 3:00," said attorney Ben Crump, speaking at a press conference in Minneapolis to report the findings of an independent autopsy.

"On Saturday, there will be a memorial service in North Carolina, where he was born, at 1:00 to 3:00. And then on Tuesday, June the ninth, the funeral will take place in Houston, Texas at 11:00 am," said Crump,who is representing the Floyd family.

Crump had announced the results of an autopsy arranged by Floyd´s family that shows he was suffocated by a Minneapolis police officer rather than dying from pre-existing heart problems as claimed by the official ruling.

Derek Chauvin, the 44-year-old Minneapolis police officer who kneeled on Floyd, has been arrested on third-degree murder and second-degree manslaughter charges. Three other officers involved in the arrest have not been charged.

His death, captured on mobile phone footage, reignited long-felt anger over police killings of African Americans, and echoed high-profile cases that spurred the Black Lives Matter movement such as the August 2014 shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, and the July 2014 choking of Eric Garner in New York.

Nationwide uproar sparked over police brutality, and protests and rioting — many that turned violent — erupted in more than 140 cities over the weekend.

Numerous pro athletes and leagues have spoken over Floyd's death including NBA great Michael Jordan and golf’s 15-times major champion Tiger Woods.

Steve Bisciotti, the owner of the NFL’s Baltimore Ravens, pledged $1 million for social justice reform and said a group of former and current players would decide which organisations benefit.

“We must all discover new ways to unite. We must all work to break the cycle of systematic racial injustice,” Bisciotti said in a statement.