Hype on for Mayweather-Pacquiao II

The buildup is on for a rematch between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao.

You can tell because the Pacquiao camp is sending out conflicting signals—a curious way to fuel interest in the boxing media and influence the sports news cycle.

True enough, Agence France Presse has hit the ground running. In a dispatch datelined Manila, the French wire service said the eight-division boxing world champ is negotiating for another shot at Mayweather.

The undefeated American retired in September after beating nondescript boxer Andre Berto. Earlier this year, he defeated the Filipino ring icon in a lackluster bout that was the most lucrative in ring history.

Mayweather-Pacquiao I generated more than $600 million in revenues, making the fighters the highest paid athletes in the world.

A rematch will not make that much money, but it won’t be too shabby for the protagonists, especially if it happens in a Persian Gulf state and is bankrolled by an oil-rich potentate, as suggested by Manny to AFP.

Meantime, promoter Bob Arum told reporters in New York earlier this month that a star-studded list of possible opponents is forming fast for Pacquiao’s own farewell fight already scheduled for April 9 next year.

Arum said “Pacquiao needs to forget about [a return bout with Floyd] and move on.”

But then Arum is known to work behind the scenes to pull off ultra-profitable matches. Considering that Mayweather can be enticed to come out of his faux retirement to add a few more million bucks to his bankroll, Arum could be doing just that.

And if the prospects brighten up for Money to face his archrival again, Arum could easily change his tune. He could make a speech to explain the situation and stretch it like it is his own state of championship boxing address.

A swan song for provocative political candidate Pacquiao appears imminent because, barring force majeure, he is a cinch to snag one of the 12 Senate slates come election time.

Knowing full well that being a senator is a full-time commitment, Pacquiao, an absentee Sarangani solon during the 16th Congress, told a TV interviewer that “your focus should only be your job and your family.”

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A dear family friend, Dr. Dedicacion Agatep Reyes has passed on at 92. “Tiang” Cion was the widow of the late great writer Dr. Godofredo Reyes who became a congressman and governor of Ilocos Sur, and a cousin to PR guru Charlie Agatep.

Before becoming pillars of Ilocano politics (she served as vice governor to Carmeling Crisologo), the Reyeses made their marks as educators and beloved country doctors in Santa Maria, Ilocos Sur and Cuyapo, Nueva Ecija.