Floyd Mayweather vs. Manny Pacquiao Rematch: Bob Arum Says Rematch 'Likely Happening Than Not'
On Saturday night, eight-division world champion Manny Pacquiao ended his twenty-year career inside the boxing ring through a unanimous decision victory against former WBO welterweight champion Timothy Bradley.
After being given a 116-110 tally by all three judges, Pacquiao reiterated his intent to finally walk away from the sport to focus on his family, and to fulfill his aspirations as a public servant in his home country of the Philippines.
"Pacman" is also one of the Senatorial aspirants who will be part of the 2016 Philippine Elections, which are slated to happen on May 9th.
After his convincing win in his rubber match against Bradley, Pacquiao officially joins long-time rival Floyd Mayweather in retirement.
But despite the given situation, Top Rank chief Bob Arum still believes that a rematch between both men may happen in the future. In a report by TMZ Sports through Boxingscene, the 84-year old veteran promoter foresees the rematch happening more likely than otherwise.
"It's close to 50/50, but probably leaning more toward the fight happening... more likely than not," Arum said. "If either man agrees to fight, my feeling is they won't be able to resist."
The report also adds that Arum claims the Showtime network has "serious intent" in making a rematch happen.
Interestingly, both fighters also dropped hints about making a comeback, however, neither opened up the idea about possibly facing each other for the second time. For his part, the 39-year old Mayweather says he is willing to come back for fight number 50 and face undefeated WBC welterweight champion Danny Garcia.
"And like I said before, you're very outspoken, my dad is very outspoken; it would be good for me to come back for number 50 and fight the undefeated Danny Garcia, you know, at the MGM Grand," Mayweather told Fight Hype in a February interview.
Pacquiao, meanwhile, say he is not fully committed about staying sidelined, noting "he does not know how he will feel" about retirement.
