MANNY PACQUIAO hasn’t given up on snaring a rematch with Floyd Mayweather.
“I don’t know know yet who’s my opponent next,” Pacquiao said. “We’re still negotiating right now about the rematch with Floyd Mayweather. So I’m hoping for that.”
Mayweather and Pacquiao staged their long awaited showdown in May of this year. It had been a tortuous negotiating process to seal the deal but the fight itself did not contain as much intrigue with Mayweather ultimately a clear winner on points. While complaints and excuses don’t sit well with boxing fans, immediately after the fight Pacquiao brought up a shoulder injury and it emerged that the state athletic commission had blocked him from taking a pain killing injection.
That though might not be enough to generate interest in a rematch, but there are other stumbling block. Top Rank’s Bob Arum, Manny’s promoter, did not include Mayweather in the three man shortlist for Pacquiao’s next fight. He is looking at one of Amir Khan, Tim Bradley or Terence Crawford.
Plus, there is the factor that Mayweather’s team are maintaining that Floyd is not planning a return to the sport. Leonard Ellerbe, the CEO of Mayweather Promotions, simply tweeted: “Floyd Mayweather is RETIRED, end of discussion.”
There’s no denying though that currently both Mayweather and Pacquiao generate more widespread attention than the new generation of boxers who will take over from them at the top of the sport. A rematch does have a certain appeal to the general public. While Mayweather-Pacquiao didn’t turn out to be the fight of the century, it was a box office smash hit. And the MGM is opening a new 20,000 seat arena in Las Vegas in spring 2016, which would be an ideal venue for the rematch…
