Manny Pacquiao is ready when you are Floyd Mayweather, says Filipino’s camp
- MP Promotions president says ‘Money’ is a ‘tremendous poker player’ and is probably waiting for the most opportune moment to agree to a rematch
- The retired American fighter laughed when he was told that ‘Pacman’ wanted 12 rounds in 2020 instead of a ‘meaningless exhibition’
Floyd Mayweather Jnr is waiting for the most opportune moment to agree to a rematch with Manny Pacquiao hoping “Pacman” will slow down after impressively gobbling up his last opponent in July.
That’s according to Sean Gibbons, president of MP Promotions, who thinks the retired American great (50-0-0, 27 KOs) is eyeing a return to the ring against his Filipino rival but is biding his time as he leaves the Pacquiao camp waiting for a definite answer on whether Pacquiao-Mayweather 2 will finally go ahead.
“Floyd is a tremendous poker player,” Gibbons told Philboxing. “He laughed when I told him 12 rounds in 2020.”
Gibbons thinks the 42-year-old Mayweather, who hasn’t fought since his farcical exhibition against Japanese kick-boxer Tenshin Nasukawa on New Year Eve, is hoping the 40-year-old Philippines icon slows down after turning back the clock with his surprising split decision victory over Keith “One Time” Thurman on July 20. Gibbons said “no way Money will un-retire and risk blemishing his 50-0 record” seeing the way Pacquiao performed against Thurman.
Manny Pacquiao ‘needs to tread lightly’ with his next fight, Keith Thurman warns
Mayweather attended the Pacquiao-Thurman fight in Las Vegas but left his seat at MGM Grand Garden Arena before the decision was announced at ringside so that he could avoid reporters asking him on a possible rematch.
Mayweather last month announced on social media that he was working on an exhibition against Pacquiao in Tokyo, which Pacquiao blasted as “meaningless” and that the Filipino wanted a “real fight”.
Manny Pacquiao complains of Floyd Mayweather’s ‘high demands’ as rematch talks begin
The Pacquiao camp confirmed last week that talks for a possible rematch with Mayweather had began but the eight-division world champion (67-7-2, 39 KOs) complained the American was making “too many demands” and was giving promoters and governments “a hard time”.
Pacquiao is trying to lure the American out of retirement and go toe-to-toe with him again after the Filipino fighter lost to “Money” in their 2015 bout, billed as the “Fight of the Century” in Las Vegas.
Mayweather won the fight by unanimous decision but Pacquiao was hampered by a serious shoulder injury from the fourth round onwards.
‘Exhibition? Make it a real fight,’ Manny Pacquiao tells Floyd Mayweather after ‘nonsense’ Tokyo claim
His shoulder required surgery almost immediately after the fight, the richest in boxing history with more than US$500 million generated from pay-per-view sales.
Pacquiao told The National said discussions for a rematch were only “formal” and was far from being a reality.
The fighting senator from Sarangani recently took a dig at his American rival in Dubai, where he played in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League, saying “Money” wasn’t making things easy for a rematch.
“Floyd, he came to Saudi [Arabia], Dubai and UAE [United Arab Emirates] many times looking for a fight, but he is giving a hard time to the organisers, the promoter or the government [with] so many demands. I mean, he should not give the people here or the promoter here a hard time,” he said.
