Former world champion Paulie Malignaggi has predicted the rematch between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, basing his opinion largely on Pacquiao’s latest performance.
The two pound-for-pound legends will square off in a professional rematch at the Sphere, Las Vegas, on September 19, over a decade removed from their first encounter.
Back then, Mayweather came away with the WBC, WBO and WBA world welterweight titles after convincingly outpointing his rival, who has since been involved in eight professional outings.
The most recent of which came in July, when the Filipino ended a near four-year hiatus and held then-WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios to a contentious draw.
Other than that, the 47-year-old has done very little to prove his professional capabilities in recent years, while Mayweather is perhaps even less qualified to compete in a sanctioned bout.
The 49-year-old has not fought in a ‘competitive’ contest since 2017, when a 10th-round finish over Conor McGregor hardly justified the ‘professional’ tag attached to their crossover affair.
But still, many believe that Mayweather will orchestrate a repeat of proceedings in his sequel with Pacquiao, despite having only been involved in exhibitions since his 50-0 victory over McGregor.
Speaking on BoxingScene, Malignaggi expressed this opinion while, at the same time, highlighting that he was largely unimpressed by Pacquiao’s last display.
“I think Mayweather, if there’s anything left, probably beats Manny. I don’t think Manny looked particularly great [against Barrios].
“But also, from Manny’s perspective, he’s going to grab on to that momentum. He got a draw with a [then-world] champion.”
Mayweather will again put his unbeaten record on the line against Pacquiao, who boasts an extraordinary resume himself after having become an eight-division world champion.
For both fighters, though, their respective legacies should hardly be impacted by the result of this rematch.
