It’s official. Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao will run it back on Saturday, September 19, at the Sphere in Las Vegas, streaming live globally on Netflix. The announcement, made Sunday by Netflix Sports, confirms the first-ever professional boxing match at the $2.3 billion venue.
The rematch will be Mayweather’s first sanctioned professional bout since his 10th-round stoppage of Conor McGregor in August 2017, putting his unblemished 50-0 record on the line for the first time in nearly a decade.
Months of Negotiations
The fight has been the subject of on-again, off-again negotiations since October 2025, when reports first surfaced that a rematch was being explored as a Netflix event. At the time, Pacquiao said he was open to the fight. “I’m open to the rematch with Mayweather Jr. and there’s an ongoing negotiation,” Pacquiao told reporters from Manila in his capacity as Vice President of the International Boxing Association. “Right now, I don’t have a shoulder problem, so it’s a good fight.”
Those initial discussions centered on an April date, but talks stalled as Pacquiao pursued other options, including a welterweight title shot against WBA champion Rolando Romero that ultimately fell apart in December. As recently as February 19, reports indicated Mayweather had passed on the rematch “for now.” Four days later, Netflix made it official.
Mayweather’s Professional Comeback
The announcement caps a whirlwind week for Mayweather. On February 20, just days before his 49th birthday, Mayweather announced he would end his nine-year professional retirement and return to sanctioned competition. He signed an exclusive promotional deal with CSI Sports/Fight Sports.
“I still have what it takes to set more records in the sport of boxing,” Mayweather said in a statement released to ESPN. “No one will generate a bigger gate, have a larger global broadcast audience and generate more money with each event — than my events.”
The comeback comes amid a series of reported financial complications for Mayweather, who earned an estimated $1.15 billion during his career. He has filed a lawsuit against Showtime Networks seeking $340 million in what he alleges are misappropriated career earnings, and faces additional legal matters involving reported unpaid rent and a jewelry tab.
Spring Exhibitions First
Before meeting in September, both fighters have spring exhibitions on the calendar. Mayweather is scheduled to face Mike Tyson in an eight-round exhibition on April 25, with reports indicating the bout will take place in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Pacquiao faces former WBO junior welterweight champion Ruslan Provodnikov in a 10-round welterweight exhibition on April 18 at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas. That bout will serve as Pacquiao’s first ring appearance since his majority draw against WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios last July.
The First Fight
Mayweather (50-0, 27 KOs) and Pacquiao (62-8-3, 39 KOs) first met on May 2, 2015, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in a fight that generated 4.6 million pay-per-view buys and approached $600 million in total revenue — both all-time boxing records that still stand. Mayweather won by unanimous decision, with two judges scoring it 116-112 and the third 118-110. Pacquiao revealed afterward that he had competed with a torn rotator cuff, fueling demand for a rematch that took over a decade to materialize.
Netflix has invested heavily in live boxing since the Jake Paul-Mike Tyson event in November 2024, and has since broadcast Katie Taylor-Amanda Serrano 3 and the Terence Crawford-Canelo Alvarez undisputed super middleweight championship. Mayweather-Pacquiao 2 figures to be the platform’s biggest boxing event yet.
Mayweather will be 49 on fight night. Pacquiao will be 47. It will be the first professional boxing match held at the Sphere, and among the oldest marquee matchups in boxing history.
