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Andreas Hale
Multiple Authors
The rematch between boxing legends Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao is apparently in flux, according to Mayweather.
Mayweather was slated to end his nearly decadelong retirement against Pacquiao on Sept. 19 at The Sphere in a rematch of their 2015 blockbuster fight. However, during a meet and greet at the MCM store inside Caesar’s Palace on Saturday, Mayweather cast some doubt on the pending fight, telling Vegas Sports Today that it would actually be an exhibition and that it might not take place at The Sphere.
“As of right now, we don’t know exactly where the fight is going to be at,” Mayweather said. “We don’t know the location of the fight. The Sphere is one of the places that they talked about. So we don’t know if it’s a hundred percent going to be there. And this is not actually a fight. It’s an exhibition.”
Mayweather’s remarks contradicted Netflix’s announcement of the rematch in February as well as a news release from Mayweather that stated he would resume his boxing career and had signed a multifight partnership with CSI Sports/Fight Sports.
Pacquiao’s team previously told ESPN that he would only face Mayweather in a sanctioned pro fight. Pacquiao ended his retirement last summer, when he fought Mario Barrios to a majority draw.
Mayweather, 49, told Vegas Sports Today that he is still planning to compete in an exhibition fight with Mike Tyson, which was announced last year but has no official date or location. There also is no word on how the fight will be broadcast.
Adding to the confusion is that Mayweather has announced another exhibition with Greek kickboxer Mike Zambidis for June in Athens, Greece, that also doesn’t have an exact date, venue or broadcast home attached.
Still, it seemed that coming out of retirement for a rematch with Pacquiao was a sure thing. Now it seems the future of Mayweather’s boxing career is as uncertain as ever.
“It’s an exhibition, so we’re both winners,” Mayweather said, doubling down on his rematch with Pacquiao not being a pro fight. “I mean, we just want to go out there and entertain the people and put on a good show.”