Pacquiao and Mayweather agree professional rematch

Boxing greats Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather have agreed a professional rematch in September.

Pacquiao, 47, and Mayweather, 48, will fight at Sphere in Las Vegas on Saturday, 19 September, with the bout live on Netflix.

Former world champion Mayweather announced he would come out of retirement for a fourth time last week.

It will be the American's first professional fight since beating mixed martial arts fight Conor McGregor with a 10th-round technical knockout in 2017.

Filipino Pacquiao retired from the sport to focus on his political career in 2021 but returned to the ring last July to fight WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios, who retained his title after a draw.

Mayweather and Pacquiao first met in 2015, in what was billed as the 'Fight of the Century' and remains the richest in boxing history.

It was Mayweather who emerged victorious, beating Pacquiao via a wide unanimous decision in Las Vegas.

It is not yet known over how many rounds or at what weight class the rematch will be contested.

Pacquiao, winner of 12 world titles across eight weight classes, said: "Floyd and I gave the world what remains the biggest fight in boxing history.

"The fans have waited long enough. They deserve this rematch.

"I want Floyd to live with the one loss on his professional record and always remember who gave it to him."

Mayweather, who turns 49 on Tuesday, said: "I already fought and beat Manny once. This time will be the same result."

Mayweather has won all 50-0 of his professional fights, with 27 coming by knockout.

He has had a string of exhibition bouts since retiring in 2017 and is scheduled to face Mike Tyson this year.

That is set to be former undisputed world heavyweight champion Tyson's first fight since the American ended his 19-year retirement in November in a controversial defeat by Youtuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul.

Announcing the end of his retirement on Saturday, Mayweather said: "From my upcoming Mike Tyson event to my next professional fight afterwards: no-one will generate a bigger gate, have a larger global broadcast audience and generate more money with each event than my events."

Pacquiao, who has 62 wins from his 73 bouts, said in October that the pair were close to agreeing a rematch – but added it was dependent on he and Mayweather being able to "understand each other".

Their previous meeting in 2015 generated a record 4.6 million pay-per-view buys and a record live gate of $72m at the MGM Grand Garden Arena.

Full details regarding the undercard and ticket availability will be announced in the coming weeks.

What a chaotic few days it's been for boxing. After Conor Benn's shock move to Zuffa, the sport has barely had time to reset. But perhaps nothing in boxing should shock us any more.

The first Mayweather-Pacquiao fight was the one everyone demanded for years, yet when it finally arrived in 2015, it had come too late. And then it never lived up to the billing.

Since then, nobody really has been clamouring for a rematch. Certainly not in 2026.

When the rematch was announced, most boxing fans on social media assumed this would be an exhibition. It isn't.

The finer details are still unclear but if there are any special rules or conditions attached, that's unlikely to go down well with purists.

There is one hook: Mayweather putting his unbeaten record on the line. And with Netflix involved, you can expect the full promotional treatment - it will be sold as a global event for the casual sports fan.

Ultimately, both men will bank enormous purses for revisiting old ground, and it's hard to escape the feeling that this is being driven more by the money than anything else.