Manny Pacquiao wants a slice of Floyd Mayweather's lucrative exhibition bout business by staging a rematch between the pair this year.
Mayweather has been making millions by competing in non-competitive exhibition bouts which are not scored and make no mark on his 50-0 record. He faced Tenshin Nasukawa in 2018 before taking on YouTube star Logan Paul last year and former sparring partner Don Moore in May.
He retired from the sport as a professional in 2017 after beating Conor McGregor, but has continued to make huge amounts of money through these shorter bouts. His match with Paul garnered over a million pay-per-view buys in America, and was one of the biggest boxing events last year.
Meanwhile, Pacquiao kept fighting professionally until a defeat to Yordenis Ugas last summer, when he decided to hang up the gloves and dedicate himself to his presidential run in the Philippines. Now, according to his manager, he wants to make a rematch with Mayweather under exhibition rules.
Planet Sport reports that Sean Gibbons, head of MP Promotions, said of a possible rematch: "Let's go. [I] would love to see it but Mayweather wants none of this smoke due to his ego. Senator Pacquiao would love an exhibition, if he was to return it would be this year - but that is a big 'if'."
Mayweather was taken the distance by Paul last summer, with the YouTuber allowed to tip the scales 35lb heavier than his pound-for-pound great opponent. Then in his bout with Moore last month in Abu Dhabi, the boxer made comical moves throughout, including dancing and taking the ring girls' cards between rounds.
He confirmed that he will return to the Middle East for another bout in October, and should Pacquiao become the opponent the event would take on huge interest. Their first fight in 2015 was the biggest in boxing history, selling over 4.6m on PPV and making hundreds of millions for both men.
Would you watch an exhibition rematch between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below!
Mayweather won that fight in what was a relatively underwhelming showing, but there would be no decision made if a rematch were to go the distance. The pair teased a potential second fight, under exhibition rules, in 2019, but it never came to fruition.
"I would like to thank everybody in the UAE, the media, and everybody who covered this fight," Mayweather said after his latest fight with Moore. "This is one of the best countries in the world. Don Moore is still undefeated, we are both still undefeated.
"I will bring another fight back to the UAE this year. It's a secret. I don't want to let the cat out the bag right now. But we have an opponent, and I choose the UAE. It's been a little rollercoaster ride for all of the fighters. I want to commend the fighters on just being patient."
