Manny Pacquiao's advisor discusses his long-awaited rematch with Floyd Mayweather and reveals the weight limit and number of rounds for the fight.
After years of speculation, stalled negotiations, and false starts, a rematch between Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr. is finally on the horizon.
Pacquiao’s longtime advisor Sean Gibbons has exclusively spoken to Betway and has called the rematch the ‘perfect storm’.
The fight between Pacquiao and Mayweather will take place in September at the Sphere in Las Vegas with Netflix being the official broadcaster.
Gibbons previewed the upcoming showdown – which is sure to be a close fight in the boxing betting – and revealed the finer details of a showdown which will see the pair colliding for the first time since their first fight in 2015 which became the highest grossing boxing contest of all time.
How did this fight come about and finally get made?
It’s really surreal to think that after all these years and all of the attempts to make the fight, here we are and we have to give all credit to Netflix for stepping up and being a great partner to help put this fight together.
The timing of apparently Floyd having some issues outside the ring that he needs to jump in the ring, kind of helps with it and Manny coming back and fighting Barrios the way he did, it’s the perfect storm. Everything aligned for this moment to come together in 2026.
How long had you been in talks with Floyd over making the rematch?
You know, they really started about four or five months ago. It’s something where there’s actually been talks over the years, over the last five years, but seriously, with Floyd actually saying, I really want to do something, I’d say the last four months was the timeline that this came together.
What’s the weight limit going to be for this fight, Sean?
The beauty of it is all I can say at this moment, and this is what everybody wants to hear: the 0 must go. Manny’s coming to take Floyd’s 0, this is not an exhibition.
This is a real fight. They’re going to be here to knock each other dead as they were in the first fight. They’re very competitive so anything they do, if they’re playing basketball, they’re playing darts, they want to win. And that’s the idea.
The public does not want to see an exhibition. Nobody’s here to see Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather move around and touch each other. They want to see someone going all in, going for the win, and Floyd putting the 50-0 record on the line.
As for the weight and the rounds, it’s still being discussed, but I believe it’ll be somewhere in the welterweight division, and it’ll be 10 or 12 rounds.
Will Manny Pacquiao still fight his exhibition in April?
Again, I can’t confirm positively on either one, but hopefully they do to keep both guys sharp.
And is it a one-fight deal, Sean, or is it a two-fight deal?
No, I believe there’s some stuff in there, if it’s a good fight, that they have the right to do it again or something. It’s really a one-fight deal.
Could there be a trilogy if Manny wins?
Yeah, all those things are there, but they’re not really written in stone. If the fight’s tremendous, of course, right? Everybody’s going to say, s***, let’s do this again. It’s kind of best to leave it at one and done, and if it’s tremendous, let’s do it again.
What’s your prediction?
Well, the greatness of both guys, Floyd’s the guy that’s never been out of shape over the last 10 years. He’s been doing exhibitions; he’s going to have this Mike Tyson exhibition. He may do one other one. So, he’s going to be sharp by [the time the fight happens].
If he wasn’t fighting or doing these exhibitions coming up, I would definitely lean towards Manny a lot, but he’s going to sharpen up the old knife a little by being in the ring over the next seven, eight months.
He’s just such a generational talent. He’s just an amazing guy. Manny’s been, of course, like you said, he’s been more active. He had the one fight recently with Barrios. It’s still a very competitive fight, but, of course, I’m going to lean towards Manny because I’ve seen Manny recently. I’ve seen what he’s done.
With Floyd, we’re not positive what he’s going to have left, but I feel his style is not conducive to fighting later in life, because he was a reaction guy. Manny was always just an in-your-face, go-for-broke type of fighter. Defence was kind of secondary in ways.
Floyd was like Roy Jones Jr, they had very good instincts. So, I think Floyd, being a little more flat-footed and not having the same reflexes and the speed, I definitely lean with Manny on this.
