Boxing needs a shot in the arm and two grizzled warriors might just give it if they decide to face each other one more time. There is talk of a rematch between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather sometime late next year. They were responsible for delivering the biggest pay-per-view numbers in history and although their fight was a disappointment in terms of action in the ring, there seems to be enough interest to justify a return bout.
The Mayweather-Pacquiao duel brought in 4.6 million pay-per-view hits and generated over $600 Million in revenues. Those figures are the highest ever for a single fight. Since that showdown in May last year, there have been at least 11 pay-per-view boxing events and only one has registered at least a million buys. The list includes the Sergey Kovalev-Andre Ward bout last Nov. 19. While no pay-per-view numbers have been disclosed, it’s highly unlikely the Kovalev-Ward fight will reach a million hits.
Since the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight, Mexican sensation Canelo Alvarez has headlined two pay-per-view events. His fight against Miguel Cotto drew 900,000 hits and his demolition of Liam Smith posted 300,000. Mayweather has since fought once, beating Andre Berto but the 400,000 hits were far from reaching par. Pacquiao has seen action twice since losing to Mayweather with his win over Tim Bradley registering 400,000 and his victory over Jessie Vargas notching 300,000.
The lowest hits were rung up by the Terence Crawford-Viktor Postol bout which had only 55,000 buys. Crawford is far from being in the level of a Pacquiao or Mayweather as a marketable champion. It wouldn’t make economic sense to pit Pacquiao against Crawford. Middleweight Gennady Golovkin is supposed to be boxing’s new hero but his knockout over David Lemieux last October pulled in only 150,000 hits. However, his fight against Dominic Wade registered 1.325 million subscriptions last April and his win over previously unbeaten Kell Brook posted 843,000 last September.
A Mayweather-Pacquiao fight could be a make-or-break for pro boxing. If the rematch turns out to be a thriller, it will save the sport. If it will be only a repeat of what happened the first time, sound the death knell for boxing regardless of Golovkin’s emergence. So the fate of the sport is in their hands.
At the moment, Mayweather is still playing coy to the idea of a rematch. He continues to insist it’s not on his mind. But that’s typical of the Money Man. He’s retired and un-retired at least twice before so doing it again won’t be a surprise. In fact, it’s expected. Mayweather will announce his return from retirement just as quickly as he had bid farewell after beating Oscar de la Hoya and Ricky Hatton, both in 2007. He spent two months in jail for domestic abuse in 2012 so that was a sort of forced retirement.
Mayweather was at ringside for the recent Pacquiao-Vargas fight in Las Vegas and fuelled speculation he was in negotiation with the Filipino senator for a rematch. Nothing has been confirmed but this early, the talk of a second confrontation is heating up.
What makes the rematch a juicy proposition is the inconclusive ending of the first encounter. Pacquiao dislocated his right shoulder in the fourth round and couldn’t engage Mayweather in his usual dervish style. Pacquiao was reduced to a one-armed warrior and couldn’t throw his trademark combinations, allowing Mayweather to control the fight with his shoulder-roll defense. The fight was boring because Pacquiao couldn’t attack and Mayweather was content to pile up points in his unexciting style. Still, some quarters felt Pacquiao deserved the decision if only because he was more aggressive than the lukewarm Mayweather. For the record, Mayweather walked away with a win by unanimous decision.
Now that Pacquiao has bounced back from the loss with decisive wins over Bradley and Vargas, fans are curious if at 100 percent, the Filipino icon could be the first to stain Mayweather’s unblemished record of 49-0. Will fans pay good money to watch Mayweather eat humble pie? If Pacquiao is the hero, Mayweather is the villain in their matchup. It doesn’t seem natural for Mayweather to quit short of picking up a 50th win. Rocky Marciano retired as the undefeated world heavyweight champion with a 49-0 record. One more win for Mayweather and he’ll surpass Marciano’s mark.
Boxing News of London recently ran a survey on whether readers would be interested in a rematch. Rod Alldredd said, “definitely...even with the first fight being a snoozer, the path to the rematch is set...the Vargas fight was Manny auditioning for Floyd to show him he’s in shape and ready for another shot.” Gabe Simon said, “unquestionably...I don’t see why anyone would not want to see the fight...we kind of got screwed last time and I would love to see a healthy Pacquiao against Floyd.”
Kris Beylikjian said, “I hate to say it but I would (watch a rematch ...time has to catch up to Floyd one of these days...I just don’t know if it would happen against Manny...I probably wouldn’t pay for it though.” Michael Fox said, “Probably would end up watching it but it does not excite me...I hope it doesn’t happen. Pacquiao should fight Danny Garcia – that is a fight to be excited about.”