Floyd Mayweather Jr. (left) and Manny Pacquiao. AFP FILE PHOTO
Floyd Mayweather Jr. managed to get the sports world’s attention when he announced he will face Manny Pacquiao this year.
But whether the highly sensational announcement, posted with an accompanying video via Instagram on Saturday while attending a music festival in Tokyo, will eventually gain ground remains to be seen.
One day after the Mayweather antic that somehow stole some luster from the Canelo Alvarez-Gennady Golovkin world title fight in Las Vegas, Pacquiao chose to keep his cards close to his chest.
Insiders said the 39-year-old senator will make an official statement when he arrives back in Manila this week.
Pacquiao’s former handler, Top Rank Boxing, quickly downplayed the sequel to what was the richest megafight in history in 2015, where it will almost certainly won’t have any part of as both fighters already have their own promotional outfits.
“Listen to me, I will not be involved in that fight, period,” said Top Rank boss Bob Arum in a CBS Sports interview. “Let other people do it. God loves them, let them make money. It’s not for me. I want to devote my time and effort to guys who are in the prime of their careers.”
Arum’s son-in-law, TRB president Todd duBoef, even compared the supposed Mayweather-Pacquiao II to the 2013 comedy film Grudge Match, featuring Sylvester Stallone and Robert de Niro as overaged boxers milking whatever’s left in their careers.
But the bout, if it pushes through, won’t be a laughing matter considering that the 2015 fight garnered 4.6 million pay-per-view buys worth $410 million.
Already, betting lines have been opened for the bout, with bets on the fight pushing through this December having the slight edge (-150 against +120).
There are bets, too, on total PPV buys, total rounds and eventual winner.
Venue is also being discussed online as Pacquiao is not likely to fight in the United States because of his tax problems. Mayweather, on the other hand, has Las Vegas as his favorite site.