Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao will face each other on 19 September in Las Vegas in a rematch of one of the biggest fights in boxing history.
Their first fight, in 2015, was generally seen as a tame affair with both fighters past their peaks. September’s bout, which will be streamed live on Netflix, is likely to be of an even lower quality. Mayweather and Pacquiao will be 49 and 47 respectively when they fight. Mayweather’s last professional fight, which preserved his unbeaten record, came in 2017, although that was a glorified exhibition against UFC star Conor McGregor. Pacquiao fought for the WBC welterweight championship last year, but is far from the force he was in his prime.
Nevertheless, both fighters built up the rivalry on Monday.
“Floyd and I gave the world what remains the biggest fight in boxing history,” said Pacquiao. “The fans have waited long enough – they deserve this rematch, and it will be even bigger now that it will be streamed live globally on Netflix. I want Floyd to live with the one loss on his professional record and always remember who gave it to him. As always, I dedicate this fight to my fellow Filipinos around the world and to bringing glory to the Philippines.”
Mayweather, who won their fight in 2015 on points, was more direct. “I already fought and beat Manny once. This time will be the same result,” he said.
Whatever the quality of the fight, it will earn the pair tens of millions of dollars. Pacquiao is a national hero in the Philippines while Mayweather forged a lucrative career from his boxing excellence and his willingness to play the villain.
Netflix has put significant resources into live sports in recent years. Its broadcast of Jake Paul v Mike Tyson in 2024 attracted 108 million live global viewers, making it the most-streamed sporting event in history. It has also shown NFL games on Christmas Day and provided live coverage of climber Alex Honnold scaling a Taipei skyscraper last month.
