The fans may have had too much of Mayweather and Pacquiao for the last several months but the saga continues. Mayweather has stated, or rather texted his wish to have another go with Manny Pacquiao. He sent a text message to Stephen A. Smith from ESPN expressing his interest in a sequel. Pacman cried rematch right after the final bell and the fighters seem unanimous in their decision to finalize their careers with forging a rivalry. The rivalry used to be intriguing before it materialized into “the fight of the century” which failed to meet even the most conservative expectations of aficionados while it satisfied most of the naysayers’ warnings. The numbers have not been released yet but it looks like the fight may have met at least one high expectation that the fans care little about – a grossing pay-per-view record.
Pacquiao announced a shoulder injury after the fight which got him into several kinds of trouble. He did not need an excuse as he did well and even his opponent complimented him, saying “I take my hat off to him”. Team Pacquiao behaved erratically after the fight, they were in denial and showed little class in reconciling with the verdict, fair or not and maintaining dignity.
If that’s their idea of setting up a rematch, it was useless; the numbers will do it for them. The gross will make or break the sequel. Now that the shoulder injury was publicized Pacquiao may be pressured to undergo surgery even if it is not absolutely urgent. His right rotator cuff has become public property. He is expected to recuperate for 6 months before he is fit to train normally and it will be at least 9 moths before he is fighting fit.
If Mayweather signs the contract he will obviously postpone his retirement which was planned for September this year after a farewell fight. He may also rethink vacating his titles and he will change his mind completely regarding his future plans. Pacquiao may be the best and safest fight out there for him and vice versa. Regardless of who you pick to win the lullaby, they are relative harmless for each other.
It has become a fashion among the talking heads to dismiss the idea of a rematch with lines like “no one will be interested in it”, “I am not going to watch it” but all that will change in a flash. We may not be looking forward to it but we will all watch it although some of us may not be in a hurry to get in line and make their contribution.
