More than 11 years after the pair broke records with their long-awaited showdown, Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao are running it back.
A rematch between Mayweather and Pacquiao is official for Sept. 19 in Las Vegas. The fight is set to be the first boxing event to take place at the city’s acclaimed Sphere venue.
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The Hall of Famers will first take part in exhibition fights: Pacquiao, 47, faces Ruslan Provodnikov on April 18, while Mayweather, 48, looks headed toward an April 25 showdown against Mike Tyson.
Ring Magazine first broke the news Monday of Mayweather vs. Pacquiao 2.
Mayweather announced in recent days that he will be returning to professional boxing this year, meaning that when he shares the ring with Pacquiao again, it will be a sanctioned professional fight and his 50-0 record is on the line.
The first fight between the duo in 2015 generated a record-breaking 4.6 million U.S. pay-per-view buys, and the live gate — money from ticket sales — was a staggering $72 million. The event was gigantic, but ultimately the in-ring product was a disappointment. Mayweather used his defensive prowess to box to a comfortable decision victory over Pacquiao to unify three welterweight belts.
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With Mayweather having been retired for the better part of nine years, and Pacquiao just seven months removed from a controversial draw with then-WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios — a bout which many thought should’ve resulted in Pacquiao being crowned as the second-oldest world champion in boxing history — the odds may well be in Pacquiao’s favor in the rematch.
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