The big Mayweather/Pacquiao fight on Saturday may have been a big disappointment to critics, but it was a huge hit at the box office — so you knew a sequel was in the works.
Nothing is even close to official yet, but this one already felt like a foregone conclusion Saturday night when Floyd Mayweather, asked after his victory over Manny Pacquiao whether he would ever fight again, stated plainly that he was lining something up for September. That something may very well have been another go with the man he’d just beaten in the “Fight of the Century.”
A tweet from ESPN’s Sports Center on Tuesday morning confirmed that Mayweather enjoyed winning and getting paid that $180 million so much, in fact, that he’s open to trying it again.
THIS JUST IN: Floyd Mayweather says in a text to @stephenasmith that he would give Manny Pacquiao a rematch. pic.twitter.com/uwKT33AnQd
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 5, 2015
Keep in mind: ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith is so pro-Mayweather that he’s practically on his payroll. For the undefeated welterweight to actually fight Manny Pacquiao again would require, well, Manny Pacquiao. And the last time these two agreed to fight, six years went by before it actually happened.
Also keep in mind that it’s usually the loser who calls for a rematch, so the odds of Mayweather/Pacquiao Part 2 actually happening — and happening five months from now — are not too good. When these guys are earning $83,000 and $55,000 per second, respectively, it’s hard to imagine them turning it down.