By Edward Chaykovsky
WBC/WBO/WBA welterweight champion Floyd Mayweather Jr. (48-0, 26KOs) made headlines on Tuesday, when he sent a text message to reporter Stephen A. Smith - revealing that he's willing to give Manny Pacquiao a rematch in 2016.
Last Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Mayweather won a twelve round unanimous decision over Pacquiao. Afterwards, Pacquiao revealed that he suffered a right shoulder injury in training and further injured himself during the contest.
Pacquiao is scheduled to have surgery to correct the injury, and the rehabilitation process could keep him out of the ring until next year.
"I will fight him in a year after his surgery," Mayweather texted Smith.
Mayweather wants to return in September, which is the final fight of his CBS/Showtime contract.
Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum, who promotes Pacquiao, says the smarter play would be for Mayweather to sit on the shelf until a 2016 rematch.
There was a 60-40 split in the fight for Mayweather, and logic says he would want a bigger split for the rematch. Arum does not agree.
"I think the wisest course of action is for Floyd to wait," Arum said to ESPN. "The fact that he won the fight, what does that mean? The two of them together created such a bonanza -- numbers we've never seen before -- and without Manny, who could Floyd create a bonanza like that with? And without Mayweather, who is Manny going to fight to create as much money? Maybe we should get more than the 40 percent. They need each other to create this kind of money."
