They met a year ago this week in a fight that was the richest ever, even if it disappointed most of the millions who watched it.
Now, there are rumblings, however slight, that Floyd Mayweather Jr and Manny Pacquiao might be persuaded to do it again.
“I would say there is a possibility a rematch happens, yes,” promoter Bob Arum said on Monday. “How big a possibility that is, I cannot really measure.”
Photo: AFP
Mayweather helped stir speculation at the weekend by saying in a Showtime interview that he might be persuaded to come out of retirement if the money was big enough. He said he had talked to Showtime and CBS about another fight and that “some crazy numbers have been thrown my way.”
Though Mayweather was not asked specifically about Pacquiao, the Filipino might be the only opponent who can help him reach those numbers.
“If I came back, of course, it would have to be a nine-figure payday, and probably a championship fight and a nine-figure payday,” Mayweather said.
Showtime executive vice president Stephen Espinoza said he is among the minority in boxing who believe Mayweather is unlikely to come back. However, Espinoza said he also believes a second fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao would do well.
“All of us here would love to see that fight again, or any other fight with Mayweather,” Espinoza said.
There does not seem to be a great appetite among boxing fans for a rematch of the bout that sold 4.6 million pay-per-views, but got lousy reviews. Mayweather won the fight by unanimous decision and afterward, Pacquiao revealed he fought with a shoulder injury.
Both fighters are also technically retired, and Pacquiao is in the middle of a senatorial campaign in the Philippines that, if he wins, would make it difficult for him to fight again.
However, Pacquiao could be tempted by a chance to avenge his defeat, while Mayweather could be lured back into the ring not only by a big payday, but a chance to break Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 record and win fight No. 50 in his professional career.
“Obviously he is coming back, and I cannot see him making the kind of money he is talking about with anybody other than Manny,” Arum said of Mayweather.
Both fighters have fought once since their bout, with Mayweather beating Andre Berto in September last year and Pacquiao defeating Timothy Bradley last month. Both fights were pay-per-view busts, with sales in the range of 400,000, one-tenth of what they sold in the ring together.
Arum said the tepid box office performances were largely a result of a hangover from their fight in May last year. Many fans who spent a record US$99.95 to watch the fight at home felt they got taken by a lackluster bout that did not come anywhere near living up to its hype.
Arum said it would be hard for either fighter to move forward without the other.
“If they fight anybody else, there is going to be that hangover,” he said. “If they fight each other, people will be attracted to the fight. It will not do what the last fight did, but it might do 50 percent of the last fight.”
That would be enough to make Mayweather his nine-figure purse. It would also be enough to give Pacquiao a huge payday, if not the US$100 million or so he took from the Mayweather fight.
As was proven in the first fight between the two men that grossed about US$600 million, anything can happen in boxing if the money is right.
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