By Jeff Aronow: Trainer Freddie Roach says Manny Pacquiao wants a chance to fight Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a rematch to avenge his loss from 2015 before he retires from the sport. But here’s the thing: It can’t be an exhibition fight.
Considering how badly eroded Mayweather’s skills looked in his recent exhibition match against YouTuber Logan Paul, it’s unlikely that he’ll agree to fight Pacquiao again, especially with it being a real fight.
It would be an extreme longshot for Pacquiao to lure Mayweather to come out of retirement to face him in a boxing match that counts on the record books.
Floyd is protective of his unbeaten 50-0 record, and he’s bright enough to know what the results would be if he tangled with Pacquiao now.
The two fighters have aged differently. While Pacquiao is still lightning-fast and fighting more like a fighter in his 30s, Mayweather looked aged, badly deteriorated, and resembling a person in their early 50s.
A fight between the two would be a bad mismatch at this stage, and it’s clear that Mayweather knows this.
Mayweather doesn’t need money
With a fortune close to a billion, Mayweather doesn’t need the huge money that a fight with Pacquiao would give him.
Floyd can make massive dough fighting exhibitions against non-boxers like the Paul brothers and MMA guys.
The opportunities for Mayweather to make money are endless, and boxing fans are still willing to pay to see these events.
Mayweather defeated Pacquiao in the ‘Fight of the Century in 2015 in Las Vegas in a contest that proved to be boring for the fight, as Floyd chose to play it safe by boxing and not letting his hands go.
Pacquiao (62-7-2, 39 KOs) wants a REAL fight, not an exhibition like the 44-year-old Maywether Jr has done recently in his legalized bank robberies against Logan Paul and Tensin Nasukawa.
Although Mayweather’s fight with UFC fighter Conor McGregor was technically a real fight, it was seen as more of an exhibition type of fight, given that McGregor was making his pro debut in boxing with a 0-0 record, and it was an incredible farce.
Pacquiao still needs to beat Ugas
Roach is getting a little of himself by talking about Pacquiao, 42, taking on Mayweather Jr (50-0, 27 KOs) because the Filipino star still must get by his fight this Saturday night against WBA ‘Super World’ welterweight champion Yordenis Ugas.
With Pacquiao’s advanced age coupled with his 2+ years of inactivity since his last fight in 2019, a victory over the Cuban slugger Ugas (26-4, 12 KOs) is not assured. The body punching that Ugas does will give Pacquiao plenty to think about in this fight, and it might be too much for him.
Pacquiao has shown vulnerability to getting hit to the midsection during his long 26-year professional career, and Ugas is perhaps the most committed body puncher he’ll have faced.
Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto were both excellent body punchers, but they never got a chance to land those kinds of shots when they fought a prime Pacquiao in 2009.
Those two fights took place twelve years ago, and it’s safe to say that Pacquiao is nowhere near that level at this stage in his career.
“We would like to fight Mayweather one more time,” said Roach to Sky Sports about Pacquiao wanting a rematch with Mayweather.
“But exhibitions? No. Manny is not into that,” Roach continued ruling out an exhibition match between Pacquiao and Mayweather.
“Manny has boxing fans. That’s what we’re after.”
“We are just going one fight at a time. The thing about Manny? He is not just going to pick some guy with a high rating because the world loves him. Manny wants to fight real fighters. He will challenge the best,” said Roach.
Spence fight still a possibility for Pacquiao
If Mayweather Jr doesn’t fight Pacquiao, the Filipino star will likely look to reschedule the match-up with Errol Spence Jr., as long as he’s 100% recovered from his left eye surgery.
Spence suffered a tear in his retina during training a little over a week ago and was forced to pull out of this Saturday’s fight with Pacquiao.
There’s now talk that Spence could return to the ring by December to fight, and obviously, a match between him and Pacquiao would be the ideal contest to be made.
If Spence can’t come back this year, Pacquiao will need to decide which fighter to face to keep busy while he waits on Errol.
A rematch with Keith ‘One Time’ Thurman will be an excellent fight if the former WBA/WBC welterweight champion wins his return bout this year.
Other options for Pacquiao for the fall of 2021:
- Terence Crawford
- Shawn Porter
- Josh Taylor
- Danny Garcia