Pacquiao speaks on Mayweather rematch

By Boxing News - 01/20/2016 - Comments

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By Chris Williams: While Manny Pacquiao is adamant about his April 9th fight against WBO welterweight champion Tim Bradley being the last fight before he retires from the sport, he isn’t ruling out fighting again if Floyd Mayweather Jr. chooses to come out of retirement to fight him. Pacquiao says that a fight against Mayweather is “another story” and it’s something that he can’t speak on.

“That’s another story. That’s a question I cannot answer,” Pacquiao said to fighthype when asked if he would come out of retirement to face Mayweather in a rematch. “We don’t know what is tomorrow.”

Obviously, the money that the 37-year-old Pacquiao would be too good for him not to come back. If he could make $50 million for a second fight against Mayweather, it would be money that he could make good use for other things in his life. You can only imagine how $50 million would do for Pacquiao in his political career to take him from a seat in the senate all the way to one day potentially becoming the president of the Philippines.

When asked if he regretted taking the fight with Mayweather with an injured shoulder, Pacquiao said “No, I never regret that I fought the fight. Before the fight, I didn’t feel something wrong with my shoulder, but it just happened in the 4th round. In the 4th round, I felt something when I threw a combination. I felt something. I lose my right hand,” Pacquiao said.

That’s interesting that Pacquiao says he didn’t feel anything wrong with his shoulder because it was my understanding that Pacquiao came into the fight with Mayweather with a shoulder problem that was already there.

Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports said “Pacquiao’s camp is claiming he had a right shoulder injury that he suffered three to four weeks before the fight. He had taken anti-inflammatory shots that were approved by the United States Anti-doping Agency during camp. He requested to take a shot after arriving in his locker room shortly after 6 p.m. PT, but was denied by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.”

If Pacquiao is now saying there was nothing wrong with his shoulder before the fight with Mayweather, then why was there reportedly a request for an anti-inflammatory shot in the locker room before the fight? It seems to me that the shot was needed for something. Why take a shot if there wasn’t a problem with Pacquiao’s shoulder?

As for Pacquiao’s chances of getting a rematch with Mayweather, I’d say they’re not too good. Pacquiao could increase his chances for a rematch with Mayweather if he started admitting that he lost fair and square last May. That would obviously be the first step towards getting a rematch with Mayweather. The second step would likely involve a little bit of groveling by Pacquiao with him meeting Mayweather in person and politely asking him for a rematch. I don’t think it would be a good idea for Pacquiao to call Mayweather, because I believe he would have to meet him in person so that Mayweather could judge how sincere Pacquiao is when asking for the rematch.



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