Following Manny Pacquiao’s impressive win against Keith Thurman last July 20, the narrative about a second fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr. has once again taken a new life. This has further been fanned after the two legends bickered on social media, which was started by Mayweather after firing the first shot.
But while some are hoping for a sequel, Freddie Roach said that it’s unlikely to happen. His reason? Roach claims that Manny Pacquiao’s performance may have scared Mayweather to give him another go inside the ring.
“It would scare me too. I think Manny gave him good reasons to scare him, that was a great Manny fight... much better than when they first fought,” Roach said. The decorated coach and trainer added that Manny Pacquiao is indeed eager to face Mayweather once again, Mirror reported.
Manny Pacquiao and Mayweather rematch unlikely to happen
Meanwhile, Mayweather remains mum about the possibility of a rematch and has previously said that all of his fight this year will be exhibition matches. He also said that he isn’t interested in fighting professionally anymore as the risk involved is too high given his age. As such, Manny Pacquiao’s next opponent is being touted to be whoever comes out the winner between Errol Spence Jr. and Shawn Porter.
That bout is slated to take place on Sept. 28. Spence was supposed to fight Manny Pacquiao instead of Thurman, but negotiations didn’t pan out. But Mayweather Promotions' CEO Leonard Ellerbe is offering a different route. A rematch against Thurman, BoxingScene reported.
It is an interesting possibility, especially how the fight went down. Manny Pacquiao managed to drop Thurman on the first round, peppered him on the fifth that bloodied the 30-year-old’s nose, then hurt him again with a vicious body shot halfway through the tenth round.
Manny Pacquiao and Thurman part two would be another great fight
But even with Manny Pacquiao dishing all kinds of punishment, Thurman was still standing by the end, resulting in the match going into a controversial split decision. Thurman even caught Pacquiao a few times throughout the match, but that only proved the Filipino slugger’s iron chin.
If the two are to fight again, there’s no doubt that another spectacular performance will be given to the crowd. This is especially true since Thurman will be respecting Manny Pacquiao’s power this time around and will undoubtedly be more cautious against the legend. But of course, this is mere speculation for now, and we’ll simply have to wait what Pacquiao’s camp is planning. One thing is certain, however, the fighting senator is still eager to get back in the ring, a questionable decision given his age and that he’s way passed proving to anyone why he’s one of the most celebrated fighters in boxing history.
