Mayweather vs. Pacquiao 2?

We were all left underwhelmed by the first installment of Mayweather vs. Pacquiao. The two biggest stories to come out of that fight were how much money it made and how pissed off people were that they had spent $100 to watch it. So why would there even be talk of #MayPac2 at this point? It’s simple, money!

“Pretty Boy” Floyd Mayweather spent the first half of his career fighting the best fighters that would get in the ring with him. He dominated in all of those fights except for the first match-up with Jose Luis Castillo. Floyd “Money” Mayweather spent the second half of his career fighting whomever would make him the most money without risking too much in the ring, then using his mouth to sell the fight. Therefore, isn’t Manny Pacquiao the logical opponent whom Floyd would seek out at this point? He says he’s retired, but he has said that before. So we weren’t surprised when we heard some interesting information from a source the other day.



A source who wishes to remain anonymous spoke to Freddie Roach, Manny Pacquiao’s trainer, approximately two weeks back. Roach told this source at a restaurant that Floyd Mayweather phoned Manny Pacquiao in the days following the Conor McGregor fight. Floyd asked Manny if he wanted to fight again. According to Roach, to paraphrase, Floyd said, “look how much money I just made, don’t you want a piece of this?”

Can you blame Floyd? He just made hundreds of millions of dollars for an exhibition that was far less dangerous for him than Thunder Lips was for Rocky.

Manny Pacquiao is coming off of a loss against Jeff Horn in which Manny looked like a shell of his former self (granted, Manny was robbed by some horrible judges in Australia). And if you’re Manny and you’re not retiring, why not fight Floyd? You know that Floyd is going to take far less chances against you than he did against McGregor. At worst you’re going to suffer a repeat of 2015’s one-sided snoozefest.

While MayPac2 wouldn’t set records, it’s a fight that’s far more worth watching than Floyd vs. Conor from a boxing perspective. Floyd and Manny are even further past their primes, but it’s an easy fight to sell: “Manny Pacquiao fought the 2015 fight with a shoulder injury that ended up requiring surgery. This is the real fight that all of boxing has always wanted to see!” Cue Manny talking about his shoulder, Floyd talking his usual trash saying that he’s going to give the people what they want and knock Manny out, Freddie Roach saying that Manny’s resume is better than Floyd’s because Floyd cherry picked his opponents the second half of his career, and you have a fight that will sell.

MayPac2 won’t do over 4 million buys, but 2 million buys? Easy. Both fighters will clear another $100M plus for a fight that doesn’t present much risk for either guy. We’d make Floyd a 4-1 favorite, but we’d have made Floyd a 50-1 favorite against Conor before that fight. The fans will probably get ripped off again, even if the powers that be decide to charge $69.99 for the PPV, but since when has that ever bothered Floyd?

Will this fight happen? Manny backed out of his rematch with Jeff Horn citing his duties as a Filipino Senator. Does that give him time to mull over Floyd’s offer and let the camps negotiate? We don’t know and time will tell. It’s a far easier deal this time around than two years ago or seven years ago when the fight should have happened. All of that said, one thing remains a near certainty in this age of boxing: Money talks. Will Manny listen?

[Note: Obligatory mention that Floyd Mayweather is a convicted domestic abuser and that Manny Pacquiao has made disturbingly homophobic comments both as a fighter and Filipino Senator.]

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