Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao 2: Boxing's latest nostalgia nod set for September in Las Vegas
SportsLine combat editor Josh Nagel previews this rematch of boxing legends
Boxing's latest foray into the realm of Nostalgia Nobody Asked For appears to be set for Sept. 19 in Las Vegas, as it was announced earlier this week that iconic former champions Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao have agreed to a rematch at The Sphere that will be streamed on Netflix.
In the combat sports realm, this news was greeted with little in the way of celebration but plenty of cynicism-induced head scratching. The boxing match already has been hit with labels such as a farce, joke, nostalgia bait and other negative epithets. And those opinions aren't necessarily wrong that Mayweather vs. Pacquiao 2 is nothing more than another example of the sport essentially becoming a caricature of itself.
But, as the producers of such events believe -- and the numbers support -- the naysayers will watch it, regardless. The November 2024 Netflix production of Jake Paul vs. Mike Tyson drew similar scorn among self-styled boxing purists but still managed to become a box-office smash, with more than 108 million viewers reported worldwide.
As such, we can quell the needless grandstanding and debate about the merit of this matchup amid the concession that it's going to happen, and a decent percentage of those who have a Netflix subscription and some level of sporting interest will tune in.
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To provide a brief backstory, Mayweather and Pacquiao circled each other for years while both iconic former champions were in their primes and it seemed inevitable that they would eventually clash in the ring. The matchup eventually happened, but to the disappointment of the sport's fan base, it came when both fighters were in the twilight of their storied careers.
Mayweather won a lackluster unanimous decision over Pacquiao in their May 2015 showdown for the unified welterweight title. Mayweather was 38 at the time and would log two more fights before retiring at age 40 with a 50-0 professional record. Pacquiao, who was 36 in the first matchup, remained active until 2021, when he suffered a lopsided defeat to defeat against massive underdog Yordenis Ugas.
However, the former eight-division world champion returned to the ring last year following a four-year absence and gave a respectable performance while battling to a majority draw against Mario Barrios for the WBC welterweight title. Pacquiao is now 47, while Mayweather turned 49 this week.
The boxing odds for Mayweather vs. Pacquiao 2 were released this week, with most outlets pricing Mayweather in the -200 range and Pacquiao around +160, numbers similar to that of their first matchup.
Mayweather's last combat action of any sort came in an exhibition bout against aspiring fighter John Gotti III in June 2024, and the former boxing champion looked sloppy and slow. No winner was declared in the eight-round fight.
Considering Pacquiao recently held his own in a legitimate world-title fight and appeared to still have his signature speed and accuracy intact, our initial lean is toward the underdog Pacquiao in this rematch.
Josh Nagel is the combat sports editor for Sportline and its lead boxing analyst. His 2025 boxing selections netted a profit of more than $2,500 for SportsLine members. Check out SportsLine here to see more of his analysis and predictions.
