Will Mayweather come around?

The talk along cauliflower row is that Floyd Mayweather may come to the table and agree to a rematch with Manny Pacquiao after the Filipino lost a unanimous decision to WBA welterweight super champion Yordenis Ugas in Las Vegas recently. Pacquiao had virtually no legs in the fight and for Mayweather, that’s good news. If Mayweather had visions of Pacquiao running rings around him in a possible return outing, there are none now.

For Mayweather, fighting is all about money. He’s not a risk taker as his 50-0 record is precious to him. When Pacquiao floored previously unbeaten Keith Thurman enroute to wresting the WBA crown on points two years ago, Mayweather probably figured it wouldn’t be a smart gamble to do a rematch with the Filipino icon. But with the setback to Ugas, Mayweather shouldn’t be too anxious about getting in the ring with Pacquiao again. Mayweather will likely be the oddsmakers’ choice to win.

Since their record-breaking encounter in 2015, both Mayweather and Pacquiao have hinted about doing a repeat. If not for legacy, it’ll be for the bucks. Their match generated a gross revenue of $600 million with a record 4.6 million pay-per-view buys. The highest-priced seat at the MGM Grand Garden Arena went for $180,000 and the lowest-priced seat cost $1,500. Ticket sales amounted to $72.2 million. No confirmation has ever been made as to how much both fighters raked in but the estimate was Mayweather pocketed $180 million and Pacquiao, $120 million.

Controversy hounded the match before, during and after. Pacquiao was denied to take a pain killer for a shoulder issue while Mayweather took two IV injections to rehydrate from the weigh-in. During the fight, Pacquiao dislocated his right shoulder in the fourth round and battled with one arm from that point onwards. He underwent surgery for the injury. Despite the handicap, Pacquiao never backed off and put up a gallant stand. Mayweather won by a unanimous decision but Pacquiao insisted he had done enough to win. There were lawsuits filed in the aftermath because Pacquiao’s shoulder problem wasn’t disclosed before the contest but none ever prospered.

Since facing Maweather, Pacquiao has gone 5-2, beating Tim Bradley, Jessie Vargas, Lucas Matthysse, Adrien Broner and Thurman while losing to Jeff Horn and Ugas. In contrast, Mayweather has fought twice, outpointing Andre Berto and stopping Conor McGregor. He has busied himself polishing off nobodies in exhibitions.

Mayweather hasn’t performed in an official fight since 2017 and he’s now 44. Pacquiao is 42 and it appears that he may do one more bout before ending his career. If Pacquiao is shopping for a last opponent, why not Mayweather? It may not bring in the same pay-per-view numbers as they did in their first encounter but even a fraction of those figures will be significant. It could do more than the 250,000 buys that the Pacquiao-Ugas contest brought in because fans will be eager to find out if Pacquiao will tarnish Mayweather’s record in his farewell outing.