Just a few weeks ago, the boxing world rejoiced with the idea that the Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao rematch may happen in 2024. However, Freddie Roach announced today that the fight wouldn’t happen while putting all the blame on Floyd Mayweather. If that wasn’t enough, Pacquiao’s former trainer also spoke about why it would never happen.
Back in December 31, ‘Pac-Man’ appeared in the ring during the RIZIN 45 event held in Tokyo, Japan. Accompanied by RIZIN’s CEO, the eight-division champion claimed that the rematch would take place sometime in 2024, sending boxing fans everywhere in a frenzy! However, while appearing in a podcast with Chris Mannix, Roach suggested otherwise!
Floyd Mayweather wants all the money
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Speaking to Roach, the host of the show, Mannix, brought up the potential rematch, probing Roach about any substantial updates on the matter. In response, Roach stated, “I sat with Manny at a show. He came in to see his son fight. He gave me some names of who he wanted to fight, but I thought that to get the Mayweather [fight]. And he says the only thing with him – he just wants all the money.”
What’s Manny Pacquiao telling @FreddieRoach about a possible Floyd Mayweather rematch? Full pod: https://t.co/rWHbakc0mY pic.twitter.com/iaDSVObaMG
— Chris Mannix (@SIChrisMannix) January 27, 2024
Speaking about Mayweather, Roach claimed ‘Money’ used to be popular in his prime, but not anymore because of how much time has passed since then. He added that Manny Pacquiao has fought much better opponents after Floyd. Roach emphasized that the fight is unlikely to ever happen because “the other thing is Mayweather… he is just not interested [in the fight] to me.” While the flames for a potential fight are finally out, Floyd’s former rival wasn’t very happy with how Pacquiao announced the fight in the first place.
UFC champion shares thoughts on Manny Pacquiao announcing the fight
On 3 January, three days after ‘Pac-Man’ announced the fight in Japan, Conor McGregor criticized how it was done. Besides having fought Mayweather in a crossover boxing match in August 2017, ‘The Notorious’ has been thirsting for a go at Manny Pacquiao. A fight between them once came close but never actually happened.
Conor McGregor was not a fan of Manny Pacquiao targeting a Floyd Mayweather rematch at Rizin NYE *
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*#ConorMcGregor #MannyPacquia #FloydMayweather #RIZIN45 #RIZIN pic.twitter.com/Euunsgv4He— Bowks (@DylanBowker) January 2, 2024
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So, when Pacquiao announced the fight in December, McGregor turned to his Instagram story with the clip of the announcement and labeled it the wrong way of announcing a big fight. He captioned it, “A lesson in how not to make an announcement.” Perhaps the mixed martial artist was right as the fight fell apart, per Pacquiao’s coach.
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With the unfortunate news of the Floyd vs. Pacquiao rematch vanishing in thin air, the debate about who would win gets buried in boxing history. How do you feel about the situation? Should Manny Pacquiao offer all the money to Mayweather just to avenge his first loss?
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