Manny Pacquiao has confirmed talks for a possible rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jnr have begun but complained that ?Money? was giving promoters and governments a hard time with ?so many demands?.
The reigning WBA super welterweight champion from the Philippines told the United Arab Emirates newspaper The National in Dubai last week that Pacquiao-Mayweather 2 could take place ? possibly in 2020 ? but stressed they were only ?preliminary discussions? and were far away from signing a formal agreement. Pacquiao and Mayweather fought in 2015 in what was the richest boxing event in history with more than US$500 million generated, mainly from record 4.4 million pay-per-view sales.
Pacquiao is trying to lure the unbeaten 42-year-old American (50-0-0, 27 KOs) out of retirement and go toe-to-toe with him again after the Filipino fighter was hampered with a shoulder injury that required surgery in their 2015 clash.
Mayweather won that fight by unanimous decision but the eight-division world champion ?Pacman? (67-7-2, 39 KOs) wants to show the world he?s the better fighter once and for all.
?My team and his team are talking right now. This is just about negotiations, about the formal discussions. So I don?t know what will happen,? 40-year-old Pacquiao told The National. Last month, Mayweather suggested in a social media posting that he was working on a rematch with the Filipino in an ?exhibition? in Tokyo, which Pacquiao blasted as ?meaningless? and that he wanted a ?real fight?.
Pacquiao took another dig at Mayweather in Dubai, where he showed off his basketball skills in the Maharlika Pilipinas Basketball League event (he scored 35 and 42 points in two games) at Hamdan Sports Complex, suggesting the American great wasn?t making negotiations for a rematch easy for anybody.
?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.
Pacquiao?s business associate, Sean Gibbons, president of MP Promotions, said he was not aware of any negotiations taking place between the two camps.
Gibbons said if Pacquiao-Mayweather 2 cannot be worked out, the Filipino legend could face either Mikey Garcia or Shawn Porter, who last weekend lost to Errol Spence by split decision in a bout considered by many as one of the best fights of the year.
