Floyd Mayweather has sensational announced on social media that he will coming out of retirement once again to rematch Manny Pacquiao this December.
In yet another impeccably timed bombshell dropped right before an Oscar de la Hoya promotion, Mayweather posted, “I’m coming back to fight Manny Pacquiao this year. Another nine-figure payday on the way,” alongside footage of a “chance” encounter between the two in a Tokyo nightclub.
In the video, surrounded by his ever-present entourage, Mayweather is seen taunting Pacquiao as “easy work”, as the two fighters exchange words face-to-face.
Smiling, the Filipino fighter retorted with “I have the belt,” an apparent reference to his successful WBA regular welterweight title challenge against Lucas Matthysse in July, where he scored his first knockout win in nearly a decade.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BnvdWOphIoe/?hl=en&taken-by=floydmayweather
Meanwhile, Mayweather came out of a two year hiatus in August 2017, stopping mixed martial-arts superstar Connor McGregor in the tenth round of a novelty crossover bout before announcing his retirement immediately afterwards. Earlier this year however, Mayweather repeatedly hinted at a rematch with McGregor under mixed martial-arts rules; something that was widely derided by commentators as a publicity stunt.
Although considered long overdue at the time, the first fight between Mayweather and Pacquiao in May 2015 shattered box-office records and was something of an anti-climax, where neither fighter was hurt but Mayweather won the majority of the rounds during a somewhat tense, cagey affair en route to a unanimous decision victory.
After the fight, Pacquiao attributed his uncharacteristically low punch output and disappointing performance to a shoulder injury, something which Mayweather was also recorded mocking in the video uploaded last night.
Ultimately, a rematch is unlikely to replicate the astronomical numbers of the first, but would most likely still generate a significant amount of interest, as both fighters enjoy immense international popularity.
Nevertheless, fans, as always, would be well advised to take Mayweather’s social media proclamations with a pinch of salt…
Article by: Navi Singh
Follow Navi on Twitter at: @hombre__obscuro