THE long-awaited Manny Pacquiao-Floyd Mayweather grudge match is finally happening.
Or is it too late?
Boxing's two biggest attractions of their era face off again on September 19 with both approaching 50 and well past their prime, more than a decade since Mayweather beat Pacquiao via unanimous decision in an underwhelming 2015 fight.
READ Pacquiao rematch incoming with Mayweather unretiring?
The circumstances may be a lot different now since 2015, when both Pacquiao and Mayweather were in their prime and the best out there, but the two iconic boxers and their rematch is still getting the full treatment from Vegas as the brash American comes out of retirement to stake his unbeaten record.
It will be the first pro boxing fight to be staged at the Sphere in Vegas. It will be staged and carried live all over the world by top streaming site Netflix, which made the top fights of the past year happen, the last Anthony Joshua's win over Jake Paul last December.
The hope, of course, is that the fight would be as successful as the first one back in 2015 at the MGM Grand also in Las Vegas, which was billed as the 'Fight of the Century' and remains the highest-grossing fight in boxing history.
READ Mayweather wins 'Fight of the Century' via unanimous decision
That fight, which expectedly featured more ducking from Mayweather and little exchanges of note, left a lot of Pacquiao fans disappointed. It will be interesting to see how MayPac 2.0 would look, given Mayweather turned 49 on Tuesday and Pacquiao having turned 47 last December.
Fans, at least, would be properly warned on what to expect come September 19.
Pacquiao came out of retirement on July 20 at age 46 to challenge WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios in a fight that ended in a majority draw. He is set to fight Ruslan Provodnikov in an 10-round exhibition fight on April 8.
On the other hand, Mayweather unretired to face former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson one week later on April 15, building up the hype for the comeback fight against Pacquiao where he will put his 50-0 record on the line.
In true Mayweather fashion, Money has talked up the rematch, saying, “I already fought and beat Manny once. This time will be the same result.”
Pacquiao, the only eight-division champion in boxing history, said he is happy to see fans witness the rematch, expressing hope that he would get the job done against Mayweather this time.
"I want Floyd to be forever haunted by the one loss on his professional record and always remember who gave it to him."
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