Floyd Mayweather has revealed that his upcoming and anticipated rematch with Manny Pacquio will be an “exhibition” fight and has cast doubt on whether he will put his unbeaten professional record on the line.
Mayweather and Pacquio first clashed over a decade ago in a contest that was labelled the ‘Fight of the Century’ and saw the American claim a unanimous points win to retain the WBA, WBC and WBO welterweight world titles.
The fight generated a reported £445m and became the highest-grossing event in boxing as the two titans faced off in Nevada for the unified world welterweight championship.
The duo are now scheduled for a rematch in Las Vegas on September 19 of this year with Netflix in line to broadcast the fight.
It was expected to be Mayweather’s first professional fight since 2017 but the 49-year-old has cast doubt on that assumption by calling the bout an “exhibition” in a recent converstaion with Vegas Sports Today.
The reported venue for the fight was the Las Vegas Sphere and Mayweather began by claiming that the venue isn’t set in stone either despite being announced last month.
He said: “As of right now, we don’t actually know where the fight is going to be at. The Sphere is one of the places that they talked about, so we don’t know if it’s 100% going to be there.”
Mayweather added: “This is not actually a fight, it’s an exhibition, so we’re going to do it again and hopefully we’ll entertain the people. We’re both winners, it’s an exhibition so we’re both winners.”
Mayweather and Pacquiao first clashed in 2015 in a bout labelled ‘Fight of the Century’ (REUTERS)
Mayweather has fought a series of exhibition fights since 2017, but the Pacquiao showdown was thought to be his first professional contest since stopping MMA star Conor McGregor nine years ago until his apparent change of heart.
Boxing’s highest-paid athlete, with earnings estimated at £1.18bn, is first due to meet Mike Tyson in an exhibition bout, reportedly in the Democratic Republic of Congo on April 25.
Pacquiao retired in 2021 to pursue his political ambitions in his native Philippines before returning to the ring to face Mario Barrios last year.
He has 62 wins from his 73 bouts and is the only boxer to win world titles in eight different divisions.
Additional reporting from PA.
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