By Edward Chaykovsky
Top Rank's CEO Bob Arum believes a rematch between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. is still very possible for 2017.
As of last month both fighters were retired - until this past Tuesday, when Pacquiao confirmed that he will come out of retirement to fight WBO welterweight champion Jessie Vargas on November 5 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas.
The former eight division world champion and Philippines senator issued a statement confirming the bout, saying he would conduct his entire training camp in his home country so he can also attend to his legislative work, as he promised during the election campaign.
In what was the most financially successful fight in boxing history, Mayweather won a twelve round unanimous decision over Pacquiao last May. The fight generated overt $600 million in revenue and had 4.6 million pay-per-view purchases. A rematch, even if it does 50% of those numbers, is by far the biggest payday that either fighter could secure.
Vargas (27-1, 10KOs) is viewed by many as a safe bet for a Pacquiao comeback win. Critics have a theory that WBC/WBO junior welterweight champion Terence Crawford (29-0, 20KOs) was passed up, because Pacquiao and Arum are buying time to see if Mayweather will return to the ring. Mayweather retired last September after beating Andre Berto.
Pacquiao claimed that last year's defeat to Mayweather was directly affected by a bad shoulder injury, which he underwent surgery for a few days after the fight.
Arum, and Pacquiao's trainer Freddie Roach, feel confident that a 'healthy' Pacquiao would hand Mayweather (49-0, 26KOs) his first career defeat.
“Crawford is a possibility, and who knows, Mayweather may be a possibility. You know Mayweather’s making noises about returning and going to a 50th fight, and let’s see Manny with a fully healed shoulder. I think manny would give a lot better account of himself in that fight,” said Arum to Rappler.
“I thought it was a very close fight. I thought Manny could have won that fight. when they fight again, if they fight again, I have no doubt that Manny will win.”
