Pacquiao victory justifies rematch against Mayweather
Manny Pacquiao did enough in the ring against Adrien Broner on Saturday night to justify a rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr.
He’s going to get it, too. For the same reason Pacquiao and Mayweather made a combined $600 million for their first fight in 2015.
People are going to pay after Pacquiao, 40, dominated Broner, 29. Certainly enough people to get Showtime, promoters and both boxers on board.
Oh, sure. Mayweather played it coy after Pacquiao’s unanimous decision over Broner in Las Vegas.
During an in-ring interview after the fight, Showtime’s Jim Gray asked if Pacquiao wanted to fight Mayweather, who in 2015 beat Pacquiao by unanimous decision.
“Tell him to come back to the ring and then we will fight,” Pacquiao said. “I’m willing to fight again with Floyd May- weather if he’s willing to come back to boxing.”
With that, Gray turned to the stands of the MGM Grand Garden Arena in which Mayweather was sitting.
“Floyd, you’re staying out of the ring, but you’ve got a camera there,” Gray said. “Are you going to accept that challenge? A simple nod will do. Yes or no, Floyd?”
Floyd’s head stayed motionless, but with a hint of a smirk on his face. In truth, Mayweather has been lining up this fight since September, when he and Pacquiao announced they would fight again. They simply needed a strong enough showing to sell Pacquiao-Mayweather II to fans who were fleeced with the $99 PPV fees and exorbitant ticket prices in 2015.
The fight was a dud. But Pacquiao’s camp claimed Pacquiao had fought with an injured right shoulder, and that surely will be part of the new narrative for the marketing team.
It sounded dubious, and a 2017 loss to Jeff Horn dropped Pacquiao’s marketability. That shifted with Pacquiao’s seventh-round TKO of Lucas Matthysse in July. Then came Saturday’s dominating performance against Broner.
Several times he exhilarated crowd when he rocked Broner.
“I really don’t believe that my career is over,” Pacquiao said. “Manny Pacquiao’s journey still continues.”
Thanks to boxing fans, his journey will end when that last nine-figure check is deposited in the bank. the