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Floyd Mayweather makes U-turn: Pacquiao rematch only an exhibition

Sports | Boxing

Floyd Mayweather makes U-turn: Pacquiao rematch only an exhibition

By Reynald I. Magallon

At A Glance

Floyd Mayweather Jr. is ready to rekindle his rivalry with Manny Pacquiao but his perfect 50-0 record won't be at stake.

Floyd Mayweather (left) and Manny Pacquiao (AP/File photo)

Floyd Mayweather (left) and Manny Pacquiao (AP/File photo)

Floyd Mayweather Jr. is ready to rekindle his rivalry with Manny Pacquiao but his perfect 50-0 record won’t be at stake.

The American boxing great revealed that the supposed fight against Pacquiao on Sept. 19 at the Sphere in Las Vegas is just an exhibition and not an actual professional bout.

“We don't know the location of the fight. The Sphere is one of the places that they talked about. So, we don't know if it's a hundred percent going to be there. And this is not actually a fight, it's an exhibition,” said Mayweather during a meet and greet at the MCM store inside Caesar's Palace on Sunday (Manila time).

It was contradictory to the initial announcement of the fight that will be shown on Netflix with Pacquiao commenting on the chance to finally put the first blemish to Mayweather’s record.

“I want Floyd to live with the one loss on his professional record and always remember who gave it to him,” said Pacquiao in an earlier statement.

Mayweather’s announcement was also baffling to some especially after announcing that he is coming out of retirement.

"It's an exhibition, so we're both winners," Mayweather said, insisting that the fight was just an exhibition. "I mean, we just want to go out there and entertain the people and put on a good show."

Although already past their primes, the announcement of the second installment of the mega fight that happened 11 years ago quickly generated buzz since fans and pundits believed the rematch was a long time coming — some even stating that it came a little too late.

Related Tags

Floyd Mayweather Manny Pacquiao Fight of the Century boxing

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