MP Promotions President Sean Gibbons has revealed Manny Pacquiao will not wait around for Floyd Mayweather to give the green light on a lucrative rematch.
After signing with PBC and Al Haymon, speculation has mounted on a potential second clash between Mayweather and the ‘Pacman’.
Since his defeat to ‘Money’ Mayweather, Pacquiao has rolled back the years with stunning victories over Adrien Broner and Keith Thurman. While the former has wins over MMA’s Conor McGregor and kickboxer Tenshin Nasukawa since his last pro boxing bout.
Gibbons told World Boxing News in an exclusive interview about the possibility of the two crossing paths: “I always tell people, that’s a great question. We’ve done everything we had to do; I think that’s a question for Floyd Mayweather.
“Floyd has said over and over I’m retired and. I’m not boxing. Floyd’s had a couple of opportunities – he was within 4 feet of the Senator at the Keith Thurman fight. I hope that’s not as close as we see him in the next year. He was very close, it looked great, he looked nice. But he was wearing a suit, and he wasn’t wearing any boxing trunks.
“To answer your question, I don’t have the answers.
“We would love to be able to avenge that loss because the senator feels a few things happened before that fight with his shoulder and some other issues that he wasn’t really 100%.
“It’s always out there, can it happen? Maybe. Will it happen? We have no idea, but in the meantime, the Senator is working on his legacy, where he’s going in boxing.
“His world doesn’t revolve around waiting for Mayweather, so he’s looking forward to next year. He’s going to challenge himself again with a top welterweight. Then we’ll see what plays out with the rest of the division.”
Gibbons believes Mayweather is envious of Pacquiao’s ever-growing legacy in the sport. He questions whether Floyd’s ego will allow him to remain retired.
“Until we get any indication from Floyd, we’re carrying on,” he continued. “We will fight whoever is presented and try to make entertaining fights for another year into 2020. And that’s even though the Senator takes one fight at a time at this point in his career.
“Funnier things have happened in life. You just don’t know when that one day is, maybe the guys get the itch. Maybe he says, ‘I’m tired of people talking about it again.’”
Ending with his view on Mayweather’s CV compared to Pacquiao, Gibbons stated: “Manny’s legacy is getting bigger than Floyd’s.
“He likes to talk about being 50-0, that’s wonderful. Senator is 62-7-2 and has won eight titles in eight divisions. Plus, he’s still beating the best.
“Floyd, when he was rolling out, beat up an MMA guy and some little poor Japanese guy. His legacy is going out on beating up people on freak shows. We’re going out beating the best in the world, so we’ll see where it takes us.”
Read all articles and exclusive interviews by Phil Jay. Learn more about the author, experienced boxing writer, and World Boxing News Editor since 2010. Follow on Twitter @PhilJWBN.
