Pacquiao and Mayweather once again conveniently meet at the same venue. Remember the first time they met at the NBA’s Miami Heat’s game and a few months later the fight finally happened. Now is this really a coincidence or was it planned? According to Pacquiao’s recent interview with the press, he was not aware that Mayweather was attending the NBA LA Clippers game at the Staples Center. Based on Mayweather’s past track record, it would not be surprising if he planned this appearance. After all, he knew Pacquiao was in town and it was in fact Filipino Heritage night in which Pacquiao was invited. This might be another one of Mayweather’s clever marketing plot to get some attention and talks about the possible rematch with Pacquiao.
Lets revisit the recent timeline directly related to Mayweather and Pacquiao that make fans believe there may be a MayPac2# – the rematch coming soon:
February 2019
Floyd denounced all talks of a rematch with Pacquiao and setting sights on exhibition fights in Japan that could earn him up to 80 million dollars with less risk. This could be a strategy to have fans clamor for the fight since there was not much excitement since his announcement in December. Based on the performance Pacquiao gave against Broner, Mayweather could also be waiting a bit longer until Pacquiao is at a further decline. Arguably, Mayweather’s style has a better life shelf than Pacquiao’s aggressive style. Once the timing is right, I would suspect Mayweather to strike, it would be hard for any of us to imagine he would walk away from all that “Money”.
Links:
- Floyd Mayweather Jr. Vs. Manny Pacquiao 2: Does Pacquiao PBC Contract Guarantee Mayweather Rematch?
- Floyd Mayweather Dodges Manny Pacquiao Fight Talk, Expects to Earn $80M in 2019
- Floyd Mayweather ‘doesn’t have the motivation’ to rematch Manny Pacquiao
January 2019
Pacquiao defeated Adrien Broner and Floyd Mayweather was in attendance. During the fight, Jim Grey pressed the question to Mayweather on whether he will accept Pacquiao’s challenge and as expected, he did not respond. Then later that week, Pacquiao once again ran into Mayweather at another NBA game (LA Clippers) and they had a very awkward handshake. Some speculate Mayweather had something in his hand, either way it was very obvious there was some awkwardness.
September 2018
Mayweather and Pacquiao run into each other at a rave event in Tokoyo Japan. There Mayweather turns to the camera and announces he’s coming back for the rematch with Manny Pacquiao in December 2018.
Links:
- Watch: Mayweather Confronts Pacquiao In Japan
- Floyd Mayweather claims he’s returning to boxing in 2018 for Manny Pacquiao rematch
- Floyd Mayweather planning to fight in Japan before rematch with Manny Pacquiao
October 2018
Manny Pacquiao partners with Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) promotions leaving his long time promoter Bob Arum’s Top Rank company. Many speculates the move will allow Pacquiao to easily setup the fight with Mayweather. Many had hoped that Mayweather would live up to his announcement for a December rematch, but instead, Mayweather ended up fighting an MMA fighter (Tenshin Nasukawa) on December 31st and Pacquiao set to fight Adrien Broner on January 19, 2019.
The fight between Pacquiao and Broner seems to be a plotted match up in preparation for Floyd Mayweather. There have been talks among fans regarding Broner as Floyd’s little brother and if Pacquiao wins, Mayweather would somehow avenge him by beating Pacquiao. The flip side to that is Pacquiao will get to test his skills against a fighter that is closest to Mayweather in terms of style (shoulder roll etc.,). Mayweather has the chance to assess if Pacquiao does well and can decide if he is willing to step into the ring with Pacquiao based on how good he does against Broner.
Obviously, the undefeated record means a lot to Mayweather and only he knows what he would do next. The question is if he’s willing to sacrifice that 0 and setup a trilogy or 4 or more fights with Pacquiao to maximize his earning power. I personally don’t see that happening since he knows he can make easy money fighting the likes of Tenshin and there are a few other UFC fighters are knocking at his door such as Khabib Nurmagomedov and Connor McGregor itching for a rematch.
Link: ‘Only one king in the jungle’: UFC’s Khabib Nurmagomedov targets Mayweather bout
Whether he will accept Pacquiao’s challenge and fight him is still to be determined. It’s a bit different this time around because..
- Mayweather knew he was in the ring with an injured fighter, apparently a mole was in camp and he knew this. During the fight you can hear Mayweather Sr telling Floyd that the fans love Pacquiao and the tone was set that he was afraid he was losing on the scorecards and he had to do better.
- The pressure was on the first time and the fight finally happened leaving fans very disappointed due to the lack of action. Therefore, there’s not as much demand so Mayweather doesn’t have the same type of pressure from the public especially since he won the first time
- He has been out of the ring against a professional boxer in more than two years, his last fight was against Andre Berto and Pacquiao has been very active
- He has other fights that are less riskier and are also money making potential.
The one big factor for Floyd to fight Pacquiao is simply due to the fact there’s still a lot of money to be made with the rematch. Possibly more than any other fight out there besides the fight with Canelo which is much more riskier. There is a part of me that believes Mayweather will not risk his perfect record especially Pacquiao has repaired his shoulder. My take is the same way Mayweather has claimed Pacquiao has been riding his coat tail to stay relevant and move up. Mayweather is doing just that since he’s retired. The irony is they both benefited off each other’s name and will be tied to one another in some way or another.
Recent News: Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather surprisingly ran into each other at NBA game
Let me know your thoughts below!
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It’s finally back out lol!