NO title will be on the line, but the long-awaited rematch between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr is going to be a real fight and not just an exhibition match.
Pacquiao made this one clear and stressed everything will be at stake in the Sept. 19 fight at The Sphere in Las Vegas, including Mayweather's unblemished record of 50-0.
READ: Approaching 50, Pacquiao, Mayweather face off in Netflix-staged rematch
"This is a real fight. Kasama siya sa magiging record namin. Kung manalo ka, panalo ka. Kung talo ka, talo ka," Pacquiao said on Tuesday just hours after Netflix officially announced the rematch that was long in coming.
The boxing legend was at the Philsports Arena to donate some of his memorabilia for the National Sports Museum.
No less than President Marcos Jr was on hand to receive the precious collection during the turnover rite also attended by First Lady Liza Araneta Marcos and Philippine Sports Commission chairman Patrick Gregorio.
"Ito yung magiging sagot din dun sa maraming question na ganun. At least my chance pa tayo, maipakita natin yung kaya pa nating ipakita," said Pacquiao about facing Mayweather.
The now 48-year-old Mayweather retired unbeaten in 50 fights with 27 KOs.
The last official match of the former Olympic bronze medalist was a 10th round stoppage of UFC superstar Conor McGregor in August of 2017.
He then fought in a total of eight exhibition matches, including one against American influencer Logan Paul.
Early this month, Mayweather sued former manager Al Haymon and Showtime for $340 million for shortchanging him for hundred millions of dollars, a move that came about three weeks before Netflix announced the rematch between him and Pacquiao.
Meanwhile, Pacquiao retired in 2022 following his failure to wrest the WBA welterweight title from Cuban Yordenis Ugas.
Following two exhibition matches and a failed bid for the presidency of the Philippines and a Senate comeback, the Filipino Hall of Famer came out of retirement and fought Mario Barrios for the WBC welterweight crown. The 12-round match ended in a majority draw,
He currently holds a record of 62-8-3 with 39 KOs.
The 47-year-old Pacquiao mentioned about training for a minimum of three to four months still at the famed Wild Card gym in Los Angeles with the same team of head trainer Freddie Roach, Buboy Fernandez, Marvin Somodio, and strength and conditioning coach Justin Fortune.
He also said about fighting an exhibition match prior to D-Day as he's scheduled to face former world light-welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov this coming April.
A week after, it's Mayweather's turn to fight in an exhibition outing against former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.
The Pacquiao-Mayweather fight still stands as the biggest fight in boxing history, earning a record of 4.6 million pay-per-views and $410 million in revenues.
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