Manny Pacquiao says he’s still open to fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr. next despite being held to a 12-round draw in his title challenge against WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios last Saturday night. Mayweather turns 49 in February.
Pacquiao (62-8-3, 39 KOs) failed to capture the bargaining chip that he needed to bring Mayweather out of his eight-year retirement. If Manny had won that fight, there’s an excellent chance that Mayweather would have returned to the sport for the opportunity to pick up the WBC 147-lb belt.
Fan Reaction: Rematch Backlash
Fans on social media are against the idea of Pacquiao and Mayweather fighting a rematch. The time for them to have fought a second time would have been between 2015 and 2017. Now, it would be a pathetic money grab between two old guys coming back to take advantage of the big purses that the popular, younger fighters routinely receive. It’s not as if Floyd and Pacquiao are in need of money. Both have huge fortunes. They don’t need a second fight.
“If he comes out, then go sign the contract and we’ll fight. Let’s fight again, if he wants. I have no problem with that,” said Manny Pacquiao at the post-fight press conference last Saturday, sending a message to Floyd Mayweather Jr. that if he comes out of retirement, he’s ready to fight him.”
It would be a joke if Mayweather came out of retirement to fight Pacquiao. What is likely holding Floyd back is his not wanting to risk his unbeaten record. He retired at 50-0, and he won’t want to mire his record.
Towards the end of Mayweather’s career, he was cherry-picking opponents to avoid losing. He could have fought guys like a young Errol Spence and Keith Thurman. Instead of doing that, Floyd padded his record enough for him to break Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 record.
Pacquiao is going to keep fighting for a little while longer. It’s likely he’ll continue fighting for only as long as he can avoid losses.
Last Updated on 07/23/2025
Read the full article here