Floyd ‘Money’ Mayweather claims he’ll come out of retirement (again), not to fight Conor McGregor in a rematch, but to square off against Manny Pacquiao.
The undefeated American boxer – who last fought just over a year ago, when he stopped UFC star McGregor – recently uploaded a video on his Instagram of him and the Pacman coming face-to-face.
The pair last fought over three years ago, May 2015 in Las Vegas, in what was billed as the fight of the century.
In the Instagram video, which was uploaded to Mayweather’s account today (September 15), Money can be heard shouting:
I’m coming back in December.
The 50-0 American boxer added the caption:
I’m coming back to fight Manny Pacquiao this year another 9 figure pay day on the way. [sic]
In the footage, Pacquiao is seen to be provoking his long-time rival and gives him a little reminder of who held the belt last, to which Mayweather replies:
I will take them from you like I did last time.
Check out the video here:
In their previous bout, Mayweather coasted to a unanimous-decision victory, taking it 118-110, 116-112 and 116-112 on the judges’ scorecards.
Despite the intense build-up and the publicity circus, the fight was deemed an enormous let down by fans and critics alike.
Heading into the fight, boxing fans felt Mayweather and Pacquiao still had enough left in them to put on a great show, despite both being in their mid-to-late 30s.
Mike Tyson simplistically summed up how we we were all feeling, tweeting:
We waited 5 years for that… #underwhelmed #MayPac
During their fight – at the MGM Grand – it played out pretty much like every other Mayweather fight before – it’s fair to say the fans in the crowd, along with those who’d forked out for the pay-per-view spectacle, didn’t exactly get their money’s worth.
By the time the final bell rang in the 12th round, it was obvious Mayweather v Pacquiao had long passed its sell-by date.
As he’s done so many times throughout his career before, Mayweather completely dictated the tempo of the fight. Pacquiao was unable to stop Floyd’s movement around the ring, as well as his constant clinches.
However, after the fight, Pacquiao revealed he’d been suffering with a shoulder injury picked up during training, which had limited his effectiveness in the ring.
Speaking to ESPN, the Pacman said:
It’s part of the game, I don’t want to make alibis or complain or anything, [but] it’s hard to fight one-handed.
Pacquiao, his trainer Freddie Roach and promoter Bob Arum were all vague on the details of the injury but confirmed they’d considered postponing the fight a few weeks prior to it taking place.
Arum said:
I thought he fought a courageous fight under all the circumstances, and I’m very proud of what he accomplished tonight.
Fingers crossed, if it does happen come December, it’ll be a hell of a lot better than last time! Although, If I’m being honest, I can’t really see it, and even if it does happen I can’t really see any other result than 51-0!
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