By: Sean Crose
Over a decade after their first fight went down. Manny Pacquiao finally gets his second chance against Floyd Mayweather this September when they throw down for the second time in Las Vegas. This is a risky move for Mayweather of course as he has a perfect record. As for Pacquiao, there’s no doubt he sees this as a second opportunity of a lifetime. Although he’s one of the most decorated fighters in history, Pacquiao has it on his record that he lost the biggest fight of his life. No great champion wants that. Now Pacquiao has a second golden opportunity. There’s no doubt the aging lion wants to make the most of it.
The question of course is whether or not Pacquiao actually can defeat Mayweather. He may be retired at the moment and he may not have fought a prize fight since he bested Conor McGregor back in 2017, but it’s hard to imagine Floyd Mayweather being anything other but dangerous in the ring. Ray Mancini once told me before the first fight that it was all down to Mayweather being bigger, faster and stronger. That may once again be the case in the rematch.
Pacquiao however is nothing if not impressive. During his most recent comeback he actually looked good. Indeed there are those who feel he should have been given the win over Mario Barrios after their 12 round affair had ended. Instead he had to settle for a draw. Not that it ended up mattering all that much. Here he is again about to face Mayweather once more. It is without doubt the second chance of a lifetime for the Filipino legend. While it will be almost impossible for this fight to bring in the heat the original fight did, that doesn’t mean this rematch won’t be successful.
Being aired live on Netflix for no extra charge is going to bring in a ton of eyeballs right off the figurative bat. Plus there’s a sense of unfinished business to all of this. Pacquiao was reportedly hurt with a bum rotator cuff the first time. Plus there were suggestions that Mayweather rehydrated against the rules before stepping into the ring to face Pacquiao all those years ago. Pacquiao has another opportunity to emerge victorious against his arch rival again, though. In other words, he’s now presented with a chance to erase past unpleasantries. Yet Mayweather undoubtedly had something to say about that himself.
