Manny Pacquiao has reacted with surprise to Floyd Mayweather Jnr?s latest social media posting which suggested the retired American boxing superstar was working on a rematch against the Philippines icon in an exhibition bout in Tokyo. ?Why an exhibition? Make it a real fight,? said Pacquiao of the short video clip of Mayweather saying he was planning Mayweather-Pacquiao 2 in the Japanese capital but said it was an ?exhibition? and to ?stay tuned? for further details. The eight-division world champion wants a rematch with the retired fighter but the 40-year-old fighting senator from Sarangani province made it clear that he doesn?t want it to be a meaningless exhibition.
The Mayweather video flummoxed boxing fans, Pacquiao?s camp and the Philippines icon himself. But Pacquiao brushed off Mayweather?s latest brash statement as nothing more than just talk. Pacquiao isn?t sure why Mayweather would suggest fighting an exhibition in Tokyo instead of a 12-rounder for the world welterweight title in Las Vegas, where they are bound to rake in a lot more money and interest.
The pair last fought four years ago with Pacquiao and Mayweather making their mega bout the most lucrative in history with the ?fight of the century? bringing in about US$500 million in revenue, mainly from a record 4.4 million pay-per-view sales.
Pacquiao said in his local language in an Instagram posting that if the pair were to go toe-to-toe again in their follow-up to their 2015 clash in Las Vegas ? which Mayweather won by unanimous decision ? it should be in a ?real boxing match?. Pacquiao?s business associate, Sean Gibbons, president of MP Promotions, laughed off Mayweather?s suggestion that they could fight in an exhibition outside the United States.
?All nonsense? he told the Philippines? The Star. ?I have no idea what my brother Floyd is up to,? he said. ?Floyd is Floyd. He goes to the beat of his own drum,? added Gibbons.
David Sisson, one of Pacquiao?s close associates, was also unimpressed by Mayweather?s latest video posting. ?It?s just Mayweather using Manny?s name again,? he said. Mayweather had boxing fans wondering why the 50-0 fighter would be putting together a fight against his great rival in a second-rate exhibition with no belts at stake and outside the boxing mecca of Las Vegas. In a video posted on his Instagram account over the weekend, the 42-year-old unbeaten American suggested that negotiations are taking place for them to fight in Tokyo.
?Money May, Money May, Money May … Money May all day,? said Mayweather in the short video. ?Betrnk.com, that?s my team in Tokyo, Japan, TMT Tokyo, and of course I?m Floyd Mayweather. ?What I?m working on right now is the Mayweather-Pacquiao exhibition right here in Tokyo. Stay tuned.?
The American is expected to attend a press conference on Wednesday in Haikou, Hainan to announce Mayweather?s ?first fight in China? in 2020 but organisers are sweating over whether ?Money? would turn up.
