Pacquiao is still hoping Mayweather will respond positively to his call for rematch. So far, only Mayweather Promotions CEO Leonard Ellerbe responded saying the unbeaten champ isn’t interested and will stay retired.
But many in the boxing community are saying Mayweather will shoot for his 50th win to break Rocky Marciano’s 49-0 career record and it is likely he will give Pacquiao a rematch.
Mayweather and Pacquiao fought to a unanimous decision victory in favor of Maywather last May 2 at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Billed as the “Fight of the Century,” the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight was a huge financial success, having grossed over $500 million in pay-per-view (PPV) buys, gate sales and other revenues.
While a rematch is unlikely to overtake the revenues generated by their first fight, it could still still be the second highest revenue-grossing fight in boxing history as fans want to know if indeed Pacquiao can beat Mayweather with two good hands.
It may be recalled that Pacquiao fought Mayweather with an injured shoulder . And now that Pacquiao has claimed he has fully recovered from the injury, it would be good for Mayweather to accept the challenge to enable them and fans to put closure on their long-running ring rivalry.
Pacquiao has announced his retirement from the sport and has already set April 9 as his farewell fight with or without Mayweather as his next foe.
Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach has already agreed to the proposed Pacquiao-Crawford fight and everyone knows that he wants the Mayweather rematch because he believes that Pacquiao has a fair chance of beating Mayweather with two good hands.
“I spoke to Bob Arum and he asked if I would be willing to have Pacquiao fight Terrence Crawford. And I said yes, but the final decision is up to Manny,” Roach told TV Azteca.
While Pacquiao may still continue fighting, he would only do so if he does not win a senate seat in next year’s election but based on recent polls, he has a good chance of winning having ranked No. 8 in the survey.
Mayweather knows that the Pacquiao rematch would still be a lucrative proposition because of the substantial PPV revenue that the fight will bring even if it will generate only half of the PPV buys they have garnered in their last fight.
It would be a lost opportunity for both Mayweather and Pacquiao to ignore the huge financial windfall the fight will bring as well as the clamor of fans for one last fight.
