While Manny Pacquiao's upcoming fight with unheralded Australian Jeff Horn is a world away from his blockbuster bouts against Floyd Mayweather Jnr and Oscar De La Hoya, the 'Battle of Brisbane' may help return the Filipino to pay-per-view royalty.
Pacquiao, one of the finest boxers of his generation, was defeated by Mayweather in an unanimous points decision in Las Vegas two years ago but the 38-year-old wants another shot at "Money."
Mayweather retired in 2015 with a 49-0 record but the 40-year-old has agreed to a 12-round fight against mixed martial arts superstar Conor McGregor, a match-up dismissed by boxing purists as a circus. That fight takes place on August 26 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Justin Fortune, Pacquiao's strength and conditioning coach, claims Mayweather found out about a shoulder injury that Pacquiao suffered in training camp and targeted the shoulder during the contest.
Pacquiao says he injured the shoulder during the fourth round and that affected his performance.
"Mayweather knew his shoulder was f***ed up before they fought," Fortune said to Fox Sports.
"Don't ask me how, but he knew. He just didn't know which one, that's why he was targeting both shoulders. If Manny had strapped it up and had all that novocaine stuff and crap, he would've torn his shoulder off completely. It tore another half a centimetre during the fight. He couldn't pull out. Freddie [Roach, Pacquiao's trainer] tried to pull him out because he couldn't. This fight brought $600 million into Vegas. If he pulled out, Mayweather would never have fought him again. They fight again, Manny wins."
Speculation of a potential Pacquiao-Mayweather rematch has rumbled in the background, with the Filipino's long-time trainer Freddie Roach saying that Mayweather had paid several visits to his Wild Card Boxing Club in Los Angeles in recent months.
Roach told reporters in the leadup to Saturday's fight that Pacquiao wanted a rematch with Mayweather but he would have to put on a show against Horn to have any chance of getting it.
"To get Mayweather you have to look good. Against Horn, he has to be impressive. It's a good way to get his pay-per-view audience back."
While Pacquiao's WBO welterweight title defence will be pay-per-view on Australian television, ESPN's telecast will be beamed prime-time in the United States.
While Lang Park, a stadium mostly used for professional rugby matches, is an unlikely venue for the Filipino senator's bid to stay relevant in the boxing world Pacquiao (59-6-2) still has huge box office appeal.
Enough for the local Queensland government to help bankroll a fight expected to draw over 50,000 spectators.
Pacquiao's camp had hoped to arrange a fight with Briton Amir Khan in the United Arab Emirates in May but that deal fell through over money problems, opening the door for Horn (16-0-1), a 29-year-old former schoolteacher who is undefeated against mainly obscure opponents.
Roach has predicted a knockout in a "short and sweet" fight.
"In all my years of boxing, I have never been as motivated and fired up as this fight," Pacquiao said on his arrival 'Down Under'.
Pacquiao regained the welterweight world title belt he lost to Mayweather when he beat Jesse Vargas in a unanimous decision in November, proving he still remains a formidable competitor.
But he has failed to win inside the distance since a 12th round TKO of Miguel Cotto in 2009.
While Roach quips that Pacquiao's embrace of Christianity has stopped the knockout blows from coming pundits have questioned whether the southpaw still has the power that accounted for the likes of De La Hoya, Shane Mosley and Ricky Hatton.