Manny Pacquiao held a Facebook Q&A Monday and made a surprising claim that negotiations are taking place for a rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr. What makes the claim so surprising is that Mayweather has, at least up to this point, been steadfast in the fact that he is retired and has on a number of occasions stated that a rematch will not happen between the two top welterweights of the current era.
Bob Arum, Pacquiao’s promoter, appeared surprised as well when he talked to Yahoo Sports on October 8 following another claim from Pacquiao that negotiations were taking place for the rematch. “I have no idea what he is talking about,” Arum said. “He said it, not me. But I have had no talks with anyone about that. None. Zero. Not one. Mayweather is retired, and I take him at his word.”
Arum is not the only one shooting down the notion that a rematch is on the horizon. Leonard Ellerbe, CEO of Mayweather Promotions tweeted: Floyd Mayweather is RETIRED, end of discussion. Floyd himself texted Stephen A. Smith on ESPN’s First take in regards to Pacquiao’s claim with this message: totally false. I’m not fighting anymore.
Pacquiao’s motivation for repeating these claims appears unknown, but it certainly will not help persuade the undefeated Mayweather back into the squared circle with him anytime soon. If there is one thing Mayweather prides himself upon it’s the fact that he is indeed his own boss. He calls his own shots and if he does decide to return from retirement it will be with the opponent, venue, and date of his choosing not Pacquiao’s.
Mayweather has fought in either May or September for every one of his matches since his December 8 matchup with Ricky Hatton in 2007. Pacquiao has said his last fight will take place this upcoming April with his upcoming elections for Senate in the Philippines coming in May. Conventional wisdom would presume that Mayweather would not come out of retirement to let Pacquiao dictate the bout take place in April to help Pacquiao. Mayweather does things that benefit himself not his opponents so it’s safe to say that a rematch is still a far-fetched idea at this stage.
