Filipino boxing legend says contract explicitly states professional bout, not an exhibition; Mayweather had claimed September clash at Las Vegas Sphere would be “not a real fight.”
MANILA/LAS VEGAS – Manny Pacquiao has publicly contradicted Floyd Mayweather Jr. over the nature of their planned September rematch, insisting he signed a contract for a professional fight and would refuse to step into the ring if it were merely an exhibition.
The two boxing icons, now 47 and 49 respectively, announced last month that they would meet at the Sphere in Las Vegas in September, with the bout streaming globally on Netflix. But last week, Mayweather told Vegas Sports Today that the event would be an exhibition bout, not a real fight, and that a venue had yet to be finalized.
Pacquiao responded bluntly to local media on Thursday.
“If that’s what he is feeling but he signed for a real match. The contract that we signed is for a real fight,” Pacquiao said. “He has to remember that.”
Promoter backs Pacquiao
Jas Mathur, CEO of Manny Pacquiao Promotions and a producer for the event, reinforced Pacquiao’s position.
“No one in these last three months has brought up anything related to the venue or related to the fight not being a professional fight,” Mathur told ESPN. “His team has had all the contracts. He signed all the contracts.”
Reuters has requested comment from Mayweather’s camp.
A decade later
Mayweather, who holds a perfect 50-0 record with 27 knockouts, defeated Pacquiao in their 2015 encounter famously dubbed the “Fight of the Century.” That bout generated a record 4.6 million pay-per-view buys and a $72 million live gate at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.
If the September rematch proceeds as a professional fight as Pacquiao insists, it would mark their first meeting in a decade — and potentially settle old scores in what remains one of boxing’s most celebrated rivalries.
