THE September rematch between boxing legends Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao has been called off.
The return bout may still take place in 2027, but everything hangs in the balance.
Last Feb. 23, streaming giant Netflix stunned the boxing world when it announced that it will livestream the Mayweather-Pacquiao rematch
on Sept. 19. The original venue was The Sphere in Paradise, Nevada.
Netflix stated back then that the fight will be co-promoted by MP Promotions and Mayweather Promotions, in partnership with CSI Sports/Fight Sports.
Just a month later, Netflix’s announcement hit a roadblock when Mayweather said that the rematch will only be an exhibition.
Pacquiao, however, shut down Mayweather’s pronouncement and insisted that he signed for a real pro fight. CSI Sports and MP Promotions seconded Pacquiao.
CSI Sports even disclosed that Mayweather had already received advance payment. The fight being a real contest is important as it places Pacquiao in a position to break Mayweather’s 50-0 record.
On April 30, it was reported that the fight will no longer take place at The Sphere. As it turned out, The Sphere opted to allot the Sept. 19 date to the legendary rock band The Eagles. The fight date was moved to Sept. 25 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, but Mayweather and Pacquiao never came close to jointly promoting their rematch.
On May 7, Mayweather instead held a press conference to promote his June 27 exhibition bout against Greek kickboxer Mike Zambidis in Athens, Greece.
Early this month, CSI sued Mayweather for breach of contract, seeking to recover $4.6 million in advanced payments. The lawsuit alleges that Mayweather took the money in exchange for CSI’s exclusive rights to Floyd’s exhibition against Mike Tyson and rematch with Pacquiao. CSI apparently secured the deal for the said fights through separate agreements.
CSI, however, discovered that Mayweather secretly secured another deal for the Pacquiao bout with Netflix and EverWonder Studios. CSI further alleges that Mayweather also committed breach of contract by pursuing an interim exhibition against Zambidis. CSI sought an injunction order on the Zambidis exhibition. Pending the resolution of the injunction request, the promoter of the Zambidis exhibition called off the fight.
As things stand, Mayweather-Tyson is being targeted for Sept. 12.
This fight was supposed to happen on April 25. CSI moved it to May 26 but Tyson’s hand injury forced another postponement. The latest schedule, Sept. 12, resulted in the Mayweather-Pacquiao rematch being pushed to 2027.
However, Tyson-Mayweather remains uncertain because of promotional issues.
CSI negotiated the Tyson exhibition with Frist Apex Ventures, then the management team of Mayweather. Frist Apex officials claimed they were authorized by Mayweather to work out the deal, but Mayweather has since sued Frist Apex for financial misconduct.
It appears from the foregoing incidents that Mayweather never really wanted to face Pacquiao in a real fight.
Amid the financial issues he is facing, Mayweather only consented to a Pacquiao fight to get advance money and cover several outstanding debts.
Mayweather then engaged in parallel negotiations with third parties for the Pacquiao fight, presumably to get additional bonuses. Mayweather only used Pacquiao.
Pacquiao, 47, is looking to make up for the lost time.
The former eight-division world champion is looking for an alternative world title fight. Last year, Pacquiao returned from hibernation to hold then WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios to a controversial 12- round draw.
Before announcing the Mayweather rematch, Pacquiao was supposed to figure in an exhibition bout against Russian slugger Ruslan Provodnikov in April.
Several prospective opponents for the Pacman are now being mentioned with the Mayweather rematch in the backburner.
The prominent names include welterweight (147 pounds) champions Rolly Romero (WBA "super"), Ryan Garcia (WBC), and Devin Haney (WBO).
Negotiations for a Pacquiao-Romero fight actually started late last year. The negotiations collapsed because of financial disagreements. Romero claimed Pacquiao was seeking higher financial terms and ultimately priced himself out.
WBA champ Romero is tentatively scheduled to defend his title on Aug. 22 in Las Vegas against former world champ Teofimo Lopez.
WBC champ Garcia is eyeing a defense of his crown against British slugger Conor Been in Las Vegas, on Sept. 12. Garcia won the WBC title by defeating Barrios on Feb. 21.
WBO champ Haney has been officially ordered by the WBO to make his first mandatory title defense against undefeated contender Keyshawn Davis.
IBF welterweight champ Liam Paro of Australia does not have a scheduled next fight as of this writing. Paro’s camp has expressed interest in a fight with Pacquiao in Australia, but the IBF champ is not a marquee name like Garcia, Romero and Haney.