Pacman to Floyd: Let’s talk
LOS ANGELES – Manny Pacquiao just assured the boxing world that he’ll be back to fight next year.
And whether it will be against Floyd Mayweather Jr. in a rematch was the topic the morning after he outclassed Mexican-American Jessie Vargas and reclaimed the WBO welterweight crown. A direct question was thrown at him as he sat on a couch. “Do you want to fight again (next year) or do you have to think about it?” American publicist Fred Sternburg asked the Filipino boxing legend.
“Oh, yeah, yeah,” said Pacquiao, who came out of a short- lived retirement to challenge Vargas and knock his younger, taller opponent en route to a unanimous decision victory. Everybody’s hoping that Pacquiao’s next fight would be a rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr., the undefeated and retired superstar who was at ringside of the Thomas & Mack Center last Saturday.
Pacquiao, who flew home Sunday afternoon to make it to the Senate session in Manila on Tuesday, said it should be easier to get the rematch done than the first one.
“Because we have contact directly to them it’s easier to talk about a rematch. But right now we are not talking about it yet,” said Pacquiao.
“My focus right now is go back to the Philippines and do my work in the office,” he added. He also said it’s not true that Mayweather came to visit him in his suite in the wee hours of the morning after the fight.
“No. He did not come here,” he said.
Pacquiao said he was not surprised Mayweather came to watch his fight because the day before he received word from Mayweather’s camp that he was coming.
He said Mayweather has even agreed to bring his basketball team to Manila to face Pacquiao’s own squad.
Asked if Mayweather would come and play with the team, Pacquiao, also a professional basketball player other than being a senator and boxer, said, “Maybe.”
Mayweather came to watch upon the invitation of Pacquiao. He sat at ringside with his young daughter, and used two words to analyze Pacquiao’s performance.
“Not bad,” said Mayweather, who in May 2015 beat an injured Pacquiao in the richest fight in boxing history but one that failed to live up to its hype.
That fight generated around $600 million in revenues and a record 4.5 million in pay- per- view buys. Anything close to half will still make the rematch the biggest fight of the year.
No other fight can top a Mayweather-Pacquiao rematch.
Pacquiao said if the rematch happens, he will make sure that he’ll be in the pink of health, safe from injuries that will leave the fans disappointed as in their first fight.
“My concern is not myself alone but the fans of boxing. If the fans want the rematch then why not. We can easily talk about that. That’s not a problem,” he said.
“I believe if the rematch happens I want to make sure the fans will love it. I will give all that I can do to get back the trust of the fans,” Pacquiao said.
“I think that fight can still be made,” said Freddie Roach of the Mayweather-Pacquiao Part 2.
Pacquiao was impressive against Vargas, explosive with his hands and quick on his feet, and showed no traces of the torn rotator cuff he suffered before and during the Mayweather fight.
“Talk about the rematch, we don’t have any discussion as of now, (not) with Bob (Arum). It’s not in my mind right now, the next fight but to go back to my work,” he said.
“I don’t know? I’m just assuming if there’s a rematch I will make sure the fans will not be disappointed,” said Pacquiao, who took a private jet back to Los Angeles from Las Vegas.
If the rematch would happen, the best time to do it is the period between March to April next year when the Philippine Senate is in its longest break of the year.
“We have a long off from March to May,” said Pacquiao, who trained for the Vargas fight while performing his duties as a senator..
Meanwhile, senators filed resolutions yesterday commending and congratulating Pacquiao for his victory.
Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III and Sen. Cynthia Villar filed separate resolutions commending their boxing colleague.
“Sen. Manny Pacquiao’s immeasurable achievements and intense desire for boxing have brought honor, pride and inspiration to all Filipinos anywhere in the world, and have time and again put the country’s name in a new light,” Sotto said.
He said Pacquiao deserves to be recognized and commended again not only for adding another world title to his collection “but also for the concomitant pride and honor that he gives to our country.”
Villar said the victory showed that Pacquiao can “harmonize” his boxing career and his new responsibility as a senator.