A couple of weeks ago we saw a 40-year-old Manny Pacquiao take on Keith Thurman a fighter 10 years his junior at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The fight lasted for twelve rounds and in the end, Pacquiao was awarded a split-decision win.
In the weeks following the fight Thurman has asked for a rematch believing that the fight was at the very least a draw. Now he says he might have to travel to the Philippines to talk to Pacman about the next fight.
When asked if he had a message for Pacquiao, Thurman replied “Sign the contract Pac”. Thurman goes on to say that their fight was one of the best fights of the year and that he felt the decision was a coin toss.
Pacquiao fans believe that Pac clearly won the fight by dominating the first 8 rounds and scoring a first-round knockdown, the only knockdown of the fight.
Thurman told reporters in the post-fight interview that Pacquiao caught him with his hands down and that the fight seemed to fly by. Thurman believes that he lost the earlier rounds but made his comeback in the later rounds. He would also go on to praise Pacquiao for his win and claim that Pacman has calmed down in the later years.
It seems unlikely that Thurman will get his re-match. Pacquiao has told media sources that he plans on retiring from boxing in 2021. Many fans and Pacquiao are calling for a rematch with Floyd Mayweather Jr., but that rematch does not seem likely either.
Mayweather vs Pacquiao was the highest grossing PPV event in history at the time of the fight and earned more than $600 million in revenue. According to the New York Post, Mayweather walked away with over $200 million and Pacquiao earned more that $150 million.
Mayweather’s last fight was against MMA champ Conor McGregor in what was the biggest boxing event of 2017. The fight grossed Mayweather $275 million for the win, and Conor grossed $85 million for the loss. The take could have been higher for Mayweather if he could have placed a $400k bet on himself. It was reported that Mayweather entered the M Resort in Las Vegas the day before the fight to place a bet on his boxing bout with McGregor but due to some confusion over legalities at the sportsbook, they did not allow him to place the bet before he grew restless and left.
When asked about a Pacquiao rematch, Mayweather told reporters that “I find it real ironic how every time Pacquiao’s name is brought up in the media, my name is always attached to it, for years, all you heard was that ‘Floyd is afraid of Manny Pacquiao, but what’s funny is when we finally fought, I won so easily that everyone had to eat their words!”
