In the latest issue of boxing news today, brought by Boxing Social, we, yet again, have one more update on the Floyd Mayweather vs Manny Pacquiao rematch, and how tiring a saga it has developed into. There is also the likelihood that Moses Itauma will be given a test against Filip Hrgovic later this year, and the many options that IBF super welterweight world champion Josh Kelly has for his next fight.
Did Floyd Mayweather Miss His Deadline?
The big story this week has focused on Floyd Mayweather’s recent comments turning the Manny Pacquiao match into a clown-show of a promotion.
The do-over was always billed, by Netflix and MP Promotions, as an official fight that would count on the official records for both boxers. Boxing Social heard, through MP Promotions exec Jas Mathur, that Pacquiao’s one demand for the bout was that Mayweather put his unbeaten record on the line as he wasn’t interested in exhibitions.
But Mayweather shook up the sports world when he said in Las Vegas in March that it wasn’t a real fight. Well, Mathur to ESPN said the comments put him in breach.
Then Mathur told Boxing Scene on Wednesday that, the fighter had already signed whie accepting cash advances on the agreements. He had until Thursday to rectify the public comments but, at the time of publication, Thursday has been and gone — even on ET.
Where this puts the event remains to be seen.
Pacquiao, meanwhile, has his own ideas as to why Mayweather might be saying what he’s saying. And, you know what, Pacman may well be right.
Moses Itauma vs Filip Hrgovic Later in The Summer
One fighter who could be set to test Moses Itauma next is Filip Hrgovic.
Hrgovic returns to the ring in May and hopes to make it three wins in a row since an eighth-round knockout loss to Daniel Dubois in 2024. Since then, he’s beaten Joe Joyce and David Adeleye in back-to-back 10-round decision wins, and should he make it three on the spin against David Allen, then, he believes, per his own contract, he said, that Itauma could be next.
“He’s one of the guys in my contract for the next fight,” Hrgovic told The Ring. “I would like to fight him and think I can beat him.
“A win against him would be awesome for my career, I’m in for that fight,” he finished.
Josh Kelly’s Next Fight Options
And speaking of next fights, what could be next for Josh Kelly in boxing?
Well, the man has options — and it reflects a deep super welterweight division that seems to constantly be moving, regardless of the deadlock Vergil Ortiz is experiencing.
A 32-year-old ‘Pretty Boy,’ Kelly became world champion in his 20th fight thanks to a majority decision win over Bakhram Murtazaliev on January 31, earlier this year.
One of Kelly’s options is a rematch. But should he fancy a fresh challenge, then Yoenis Tellez has put himself forward. Tellez would be a high-risk, low-reward fight for Kelly, despite the breakout nature of his most recent performance when he overcome a horrific injury to defeat Brian Mendoza on March 28 in Las Vegas.
Speaking to Boxing Social’s Carlos Linares, Tellez said he wants to pursue “an IBF title opportunity against Josh Kelly.”
But Kelly has a third option, too, outside of Murtazaliev and Tellez — a unification. Per Boxing Scene, Sebastian Fundora’s team is “in talks” with Kelly’s. The bout would see Fundora’s WBC and Kelly’s IBF come together at a similar time in which Xander Zayas recently unified the WBO and WBA belts.
If the Fundora vs Kelly winner goes on to face the Zayas vs Jaron ‘Boots’ Ennis winner then, well, in the words of Conor McGregor, “sign me up.”
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