Three years removed from a far overdue mega-fight between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao, it looks as if Mayweather’s proclamation that he’s going to fight Pacquiao again in December isn’t just him making something up to keep his name in the headlines.
Multiple outlets, including Ring Magazine’s Mike Coppinger, have since reported that the two boxing legends are making significant progress towards a rematch, and we could see an official announcement soon.
The Los Angeles Times also spoke to a source who said “things are definitely moving” with regards to negotiations. Pacquiao himself also said that he aims to “finalize the fight this week,” although he mentioned the likes of Amir Khan and Adrien Broner as potential alternatives should another showdown with Floyd fail to materialize.
Mayweather (50-0) came out of retirement last year to defeat UFC superstar Conor McGregor by 10th-round TKO in the second-richest fight in boxing history, only behind Mayweather vs. Pacquiao. This is roughly the 55th time Mayweather has come out of retirement since 2007.
Pacquiao (60-7-2, 39 KOs) picked up his first stoppage win since 2009, when he sent Lucas Matthysse to the canvas three times for a seventh-round finish. The Filipino icon and boxing’s only eight-division world champion is no longer affiliated with Top Rank Boxing, and plans to promote his own fights moving forward under his MP Promotions banner. Pacquiao holds the WBA “regular” welterweight title, but no sane human being cares about that belt.
Mayweather vs. Pacquiao pulled in 4.6 million buys on pay-per-view for their May 2015 “Fight of the Century,” which failed to live up to the hype, but did make both men oodles of cash. Presumably they’re aiming for the same thing for the rematch, which will most certainly not do anywhere close to that number if it does happen.