Fans have begged Floyd Mayweather to stage a rematch with Manny Pacquiao after the pair met at his latest exhibition fight.
Mayweather has been fighting in a series of exhibition contests since retiring in 2017, and most recently recorded a huge KO victory over Japanese MMA fighter Mikuru Asakura at the weekend. Naturally as the fights have been getting bigger with each appearance, the boxing legend has seen calls for him to renew his rivalry with Pacaquiao with their professional fight ranked as the highest bought pay-per-view event in combat sports history.
At the weekend Mayweather was reunited with his former rival, with the Filipino in Tokyo at the weekend to watch the nine-minute exhibition. Pacquiao will enter the exhibition circuit himself later this year when he takes on YouTuber DK Yoo in South Korea in December, which has heightened talk of a potential second showdown amongst fans.
Many became excited by the pair being pictured on stage together on Pacquiao's Instagram account, with one fan writing: "RUN IT BACK." Another quickly agreed: "Rematch even if it is an exhibition. Please make this happen Manny." A fan also wrote: "Oh wow man! Rematch coming soon!" One fan even prepared the event, adding: "It would be great to see you guys do business together! There are many opportunities in Asia and the USA."
A series of frenzied commenters also began using the hashtag #MayPac2 when addressing a potential second meeting but some were considerably less excited by the news. One fan wrote: "Their rematch will be an exhibition and it’s going to suck." A fan agreed: "Floyd looks like he is still in fight mode! Let it go bro you won you beat him already you good!"
Mayweather and Pacquiao touched gloves in arguably the most anticipated fight in the modern era, with the pair both taking home nine-figure pay-days after the event sold more than four million pay-per-views. The American outpointed Pacquiao and the pair have since retired from the professional ranks, with the latter hanging up his gloves following a loss to Yordenis Ugas last year.
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'Money' has revealed his plans to fight a further five-times in 2023 in a whole host of locations which could include a fight in the Middle East with Conor McGregor. However a fight with Pacquiao could be unlikely with Mayweather not willing to step in the ring with anyone who can cause him serious harm.
"I retired from the sport and I didn't let the sport retire me," Mayweather said. "Manny had a great career but boxing retired Manny. If I was Manny Pacquiao would I be chasing Floyd Mayweather for an exhibition to get another payday? Yes I would. But at this time I am enjoying fighting guys that are 15-0 or 18-0 or YouTubers or MMA guys, and I am going to continue to do what I want to do and I want to dictate things with my career once it is over."
