LET us run up some numbers.
Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. first crossed paths in May 2015. Many thought this fight should have taken place 5 years before or around 2010, when both fighters were at their peak.
A rematch was recently announced and scheduled on Sept. 19 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The return bout is happening 11 years after the first fight.
The first fight happened 5 years late. The rematch, which should have happened immediately after the first fight, is taking place 11 years later.
Pacquiao is already 47 years old and has fought just once since 2021. Mayweather is 47 summers old and had his last real fight in 2017. Oh, both are already grandfathers.
Then again, here is the magic number that made the rematch inevitable: The 2015 fight generated a global revenue of $600 million, making it the highest pay-per-view event in boxing history.
The 2015 contest raked in a lot of money and this is reason the rematch is happening.
Mayweather wants to resuscitate his bank account. He earned over a billion dollars but a luxurious lifestyle has left him rummaging for funds.
Mayweather recently sued his former broadcast partner, Showtime, alleging that its former president connived with his former manager to divert portions of his earnings. Mayweather fought for Showtime from 2013 to 2017.
Some nine years later, he is claiming that some of his earnings were diverted and placed in accounts beyond his control. Mayweather claimed he is owed $340 million, but it is only now that he discovered the fund diversion.
As stated, the guy is desperately looking for other sources of funds.
Mayweather is also facing lawsuits/money claims from creditors. As it turned out, some of the high-end bags, watches and cars he acquired were not paid in full. As if things cannot get worse, he had to shell out $28 million to settle back taxes claims from the Internal Revenue Service.
Mayweather recently took out a loan amounting to $54 million with interest pegged at 9 percent. The loan lists as collateral the assets (jet plane, multiple homes and a strip club) of Mayweather.
Mayweather is a genius inside the ring, but the same cannot be said when it comes to money matters.
For his part, Pacquiao has repeatedly stated that he continues to lace on the gloves because he still has the passion for fighting. The lure of making millions of dollars in just 12 rounds (or less) is too tempting to resist, though.
Pacquiao has been chasing a rematch with Mayweather for the last decade. Mayweather has been elusive because he only wants an exhibition match where the result will not affect his unbeaten record.
Mayweather retired in 2017 with a perfect record of 50-0. He has been very protective of his unblemished record, limiting his ring appearances to exhibition matches.
However, as he is in dire need of additional cash, Mayweather is now ready to risk his 50-0 mark against Pacquiao.
Before they square off at The Sphere in Las Vegas, in a fight that will be shown by streaming giant Netflix, Mayweather and Pacquiao will figure in exhibition skirmishes.
Pacquiao is scheduled to meet on April 18 his former sparring partner Ruslan Provodnikov. Do not be surprised if this meaningless exhibition is scrapped because Pacquiao may want to preserve himself for the date with Mayweather.
The priority for Pacquiao is the rematch with Mayweather.
Mayweather is also scheduled to figure in an exhibition fight against former world heavyweight champion Mike Tyson. The fight is set to be held on April 25 in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the site of the legendary “Rumble in the Jungle” contest between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman.
Tyson is already 59 years old, but a long-running grudge set up the meeting with Mayweather.
Officially, no world title is at stake in the Pacquiao-Mayweather rematch. Do not be surprised if an organization like the WBC comes up with a special belt just to include itself in all the pre-fight publicity blitz.
The official weight has not been announced. Pacquiao fought as a welterweight (147 pounds) last year when he battled then WBC champ Mario Barrios. In his last exhibition fight against John Gotti III in August 2024, Mayweather tipped the scale as a middleweight (160 pounds). The boxers may agree on a catch weight or Mayweather can simply slim down to 147 pounds.
So, is the rematch worth watching?
It is easy to be turned off given the age and inactivity of the boxers, but the popular guess is that the fans will still tune to see if Mayweather will finally taste defeat.
For Pacquiao, Mayweather’s 0 must go.
