Floyd Mayweather Jr. hasn’t confirmed Manny Pacquiao’s announcement of an exhibition fight against him in 2024, making some believe that this is a phantom rematch with no chance of happening. No one in Mayweather’s camp has stepped forward to confirm that he’ll be facing Pacquiao.
The 46-year-old Pacquiao surprised fans by announcing to them on New Year’s Eve during a Rizin event in Japan that he would be facing the 45-year-old Floyd in an exhibition.
It’s understandable why both fighters would want to fight because there’s a lot of money to be made for them in Japan. Some fans wonder whether Floyd has burned through his entire $400 million fortune, buying useless jewelry and making bad investments.
Unfortunately, the Mayweather-Pacquiao rematch likely won’t sell on PPV, as fans are sick of exhibitions, and they won’t be excited at seeing two middle-aged retired fighters taking part in a money grab.
Risk factor for Floyd
Fans have been waiting for a rematch between Pacquiao and Mayweather since their fight in 2015, which Floyd won by a twelve round decision in a match that broke PPV records.
That fight made both fighters a lot of money, and it’s surprising that it’s taken them this long to finally meet in a rematch.
Mayweather & Pacquiao were already in their last 30s and on the downsides of their careers when they fought in 2015. But since then, both have lost a lot of speed, especially Floyd.
Floyd looks elderly now, like a fighter in his 50s, and he didn’t look like he could take a solid shot from Pacquiao without collapsing. Unless Mayweather & Pacquiao agree to take it easy, not throwing with full power, this could end badly for Floyd. That’s the problem with exhibition matches. The fighters look like they’re just playing around.
Any kind of fight would be risky for Mayweather against Pacquiao because his reflexes have slowed dramatically since retiring in 2017, and he’s not looked good in his recent exhibition matches. It would be risky for Mayweather to fight Pacquiao, who still possesses his power and a fair amount of speed.
