Floyd Mayweather Jr. (50-0) recently announced that he plans to come out of retirement for a rematch against Manny Pacquiao (60-7-2). The fight is aimed to take place in December.
The last time the two faced off, Mayweather won in a unanimous decision, earning him a $220 million reward. That fight made an astounding 4.6 million pay-per-view. Despite the record amount of views, many considered the match to lack the highly-anticipated fighting action.
Mayweather went on to beat Andre Betro in 2015. The 41-year-old fighter went into retirement just over a year ago after he defeated Irish MMA star Conor McGregor. Mayweather won around $325 million for his performance.
The last fight Pacquiao was in was against Lucas Matthysse in mid-July. The Filipino fighting machine is a boxing free agent, due to his Top Rank deal expiring recently. Top Rank CEO, Bob Arum, and president, Todd duBoef, agreed that they do not want to be involved in the fight. Pacquiao has now invested in creating his MP Promotions brand.
Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook estimated odds on Mayweather as the favorite to win with minus-220. The underdog, Pacquiao, was set at plus-180. Mayweather said about the prospect of a rematch, “We gonna take the belt. We gonna get the payday. And I don’t want no shoulder excuses.”
Mayweather posted this clip of him and Pacquiao at a Tokyo music festival:
Pacquiao responded with this video tweet:
It will definitely be interesting if the two fighters are able to come together, since the public is suspicious that this is a publicity stunt for more money and attention. The interaction and social media posts occurred right before the Canelo vs. GGG II fight. There might be some ulterior motives to the timing of the announcement.
If the last fight did not deliver, then could this one even come close to? Some in the boxing community are even calling for people to petition the match.
Featured Image via Justin Matthew