Anyone who remembers how long it took to make the first fight is having an unfortunate flashback. The first fight took place too late. This topic has been the subject of numerous articles and podcast segments over the last fifteen years. About how the bout was allowed to marinate for so long that by May 2015, the fight was mushy and the flavor was all wrong. By the time the two men entered the ring, they were past their physical primes, and the fight did not live up to the massive buildup.
In addition to the fight itself not living up to the hype, the main event was delayed by 45 minutes due to issues with the global pay-per-view feed. Many claimed that Mayweather negotiated the fight conditions in his favor, making it unfair. Pacquiao claimed that he had a shoulder injury when they fought. The dream fight was anything but a dream.
So why are the 49-year-old Mayweather and 47-year-old Pacquiao mixing it up once again over a decade later? Even in boxing, where every retirement gets met with some level of skepticism, this seems absurd. Will there be some contrived Zuffa Legends belt on the line?
Former heavyweight champion Tyson Fury, who is embarking on a comeback of his own, was critical of Mayweather and Pacquiao facing off again. “These guys are nearly 50 years old. Is it for the right reasons? Probably not. What I’m hearing is it’s all financial reasons. People can pretend they’re rich. If you’re that rich and that secure, you wouldn’t want to be fighting at 50 years old. That’s a fact.”
Assuming it happens, Mayweather-Pacquiao II will be streamed globally on Netflix from The Sphere in Las Vegas. Millions of people will likely view the September rematch. Some will be excited to see these two legends fight again, while others will stumble upon it after being unable to decide which crime drama to watch that night. It figures to be a financial success for Netflix, as well as for Mayweather and Pacquiao. But the question most boxing fans are asking is why. As in, why is this fight happening again in 2026?
It is an interesting question, and one that is impossible to answer without the use of truth serum. Pacquiao initially wanted a second fight, but that was ten years ago. Why is this happening now? How did we reach the point that both men have agreed to a rematch?
To get at the heart of the matter, it would be instructive to see what these two men have been up to since they first fought over 4,000 days ago.
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Pacquiao has had eight fights since the first Mayweather bout, going 5-2-1 over that span. One of the two losses was a contentious decision loss to Australian Jeff Horn in Brisbane, Australia. The other defeat was in August 2021 to Yordenis Ugas, who stepped in as a late injury replacement for Errol Spence. In his only subsequent fight since the loss to Ugas, Pacquiao earned a draw against Mario Barrios in July 2025. That Pacquiao was able to earn a draw against a welterweight champion in his first fight in four years speaks to Pacquiao’s immense talent.
Pacquiao has kept himself busy outside the ring, too, serving two three-year terms in the Philippine House of Representatives and a six-year Senate term from 2016 to 2022. During his Senatorial campaign, Pacquiao made controversial comments about people in same-sex marriages that he later apologized for.
Following his loss to Ugas, Pacquiao announced his retirement from boxing so he could focus on his candidacy for President of the Philippines. Pacquiao finished third in the 2022 Filipino presidential election with just under seven percent of the vote. His six-year Senate term ended a few months later in June 2022. In 2025, Pacquiao attempted a political comeback, running for the Philippine Senate once again. He was unsuccessful. Just about ten weeks later, Pacquiao was fighting to a draw with Mario Barrios.
Has Pacquiao decided to lace up his gloves again because he reached the end of his political road? Though he fought another eight times after facing Mayweather, this must be the fight Manny has wanted ever since May 2015. Eight fights in eleven years is not a ton, but Pacquiao has been the picture of activity compared to Mayweather.
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This latest comeback marks the third time that Floyd Mayweather has returned to boxing. Floyd first retired after defeating the late Ricky Hatton in December 2007.
Following his first victory over Manny Pacquiao in May 2015, Mayweather then defeated
Andre Berto in September and again sailed off into the sunset at 49-0. Sailing off into the sunset gives you time to think. Mayweather seemed to think about how 50 is more of a round number than 49. Reports of Mayweather trademarking “TMT 50” and “TBE 50” made the rounds, and it seemed like only a matter of time before Mayweather made another comeback. (For the uninitiated, those acronyms stand for The Money Team and The Best Ever).
The comeback became official in 2017 when Mayweather announced that he would unretire and take on UFC star Conor McGregor in a boxing match. People were interested despite McGregor being a mixed martial artist by trade. McGregor and Mayweather hit the press tour running, with viral moments aplenty.
Somehow, it got sanctioned as a professional boxing match, and in August 2017, the two men faced off. Each made hundreds of millions of dollars. Mayweather carried McGregor through the majority of the fight, until Mayweather mercifully ended the proceedings in the 10th round. Following his lucrative 50th professional victory, Floyd Mayweather once again proclaimed that he was retired from boxing.
In November 2018, Mayweather paid the Securities and Exchange Commission a $750,000 settlement for failing to disclose payments he accepted from issuers of initial coin offerings.
To say Mayweather has been inactive following his third, and longest, retirement would not be completely accurate. He has competed in, and received compensation for, eight exhibition fights in the years following his last professional bout.
On the last day of 2018, he fought Japanese kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa. After a couple of years, Mayweather really picked up his exhibition pace. On May 6, 2021, Mayweather fought social media personality Logan Paul in Miami. In May 2022, Mayweather had an eight-round exhibition against former sparring partner Don Moore. Four months later, Japanese mixed martial artist Mikuru Asakara was Mayweather’s next opponent. In his third and final exhibition match of 2022, Mayweather took on Deji in November. Deji is a social media influencer whose claim to fame is that his older brother, KSI, is a more prominent social media influencer. In February 2023, Mayweather fought former Bellator MMA fighter/TV personality Aaron Chalmers.
Mayweather twice took on John Gotti III, a former professional MMA/boxer, in June 2023 and August 2024. If that name sounds familiar, yes, he is a descendant of mafiosos John Gotti and John A. Gotti. We have entered into the third persona of Floyd Mayweather, from Pretty Boy Floyd and Money Mayweather to Mercenary Mayweather.
Mayweather has two more exhibition bouts planned before facing Pacquiao again. At the end of April, Mayweather and Mike Tyson will fight in the Congo. Then, in June, he will take on retired kickboxer Mike Zambidis in Greece.
Will these exhibition matches have adequately prepared Mayweather for a real fight against a real boxer?
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Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao are two of the best boxers in modern history. As Tiger Woods can attest, when elite athletes step away from their sport, it can be tough to adjust to retirement. After building an entire existence and identity around something, what do you do when that starts to wind down? You can carry on as an age-diminished version of yourself, or launch a political career like Pacquiao. Or like Mayweather, you could take exhibition fights with lower stakes and become a modern-day version of a circus act. Both paths are profitable and can be rewarding in different ways.
But it is just not the same. A political campaign or an exhibition fight can approach the feeling of competing in a prizefight, but ultimately, the two men have just been chasing ghosts. On September 19, Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao will be chasing each other around the ring. We can only hope it is 2026.
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