SACRAMENTO, California—The banter’s familiar after a Floyd Mayweather Jr. match.
It was no different last Saturday at the Della-Brown household in the nearby university town of Davis where the pay-per-view crowd was made up of young lawyers and microbiologists.
“Floyd should fight Manny Pacquiao now or forever rest his case,” said Levale S., who came with his girlfriend Pamela P.
“You don’t need to break down Money’s defense,” says Brandon M. “He won’t fight any boxer handled by promoter Bob Arum.”
“Now, now, hold your horses,” cautioned Nosa S. “The moolah’s loosening him up.”
In a ringside interview with Showtime’s Jim Gray after his lopsided rematch win over Argentina’s Marcos Maidana, in Las Vegas, Mayweather surprised the boxing world by acknowledging the import of a fight with Pacquiao.
It is a huge turnaround for the Money man since his previous position had been to ignore the fighting Filipino congressman, boxing’s only world champion in eight weight divisions.
Their bout would be the richest in ring history that’s been craved by fans for almost nine years and is projected to earn $3 million in PPV sales and an overall income of over $200 million.
“If the Pacquiao fight happens, it happens,” Mayweather said after his second encounter with the frustrated Maidana, who believed he won the first fight, also at the MGM Grand Arena last May. “You can ask the same question and get the same answers. I call my own shots.”
For Saturday’s 36-minute match, Mayweather earned $32 million against Maidana’s $3 million.
“We’re not sure what the game plan is,” Mayweather said. “I’ll probably fight in May. I may not fight until September,” he said in a statement interpreted as leaving a sliver of a chance for a fight with Pacquiao.
The unbeaten Money and the Pacman (56-5-2, 30 K0s) are facing a dwindling pool of possible opponents. Besides Father time’s creeping up on both.
Mayweather whose next possible opponent is British star Amir Khan who would be jumping the queue to face him, turns 39 next year; Pacquiao will soon hit 37.
Hence, both boxers’ careers may or may not be flickering like a birthday candle.
The Pacman himself is forced to meet former UFC fighter Chris Algieri in Macau in November. He is guaranteed a purse of $25 million against Algieri’s $1 million.
What could be the mismatch of the year is being fought in China instead of Las Vegas, a city that feeds on big name fighters like Pacquiao to prop up its economy.
Arum moved the fight after a spat with the MGM Grand which had more signs advertising for the first Mayweather-Maidana fight last May 3 than the Pacquiao-Tim Bradley rematch the Pacman won on April 12.
“If the Manny Pacquiao fight makes sense, let’s make it happen,” Floyd Jr. told the Associated Press. “He has some business to take care of past that guy Chris Algieri on Nov. 22, we’ll see what the future holds.”