LAS VEGAS (AP) – Floyd Mayweather Jr. may have boxed himself into a corner by outboxing Marcos Maidana in their rematch.
And it might open the door – if just a crack – for the fight with Manny Pacquiao that boxing fans have been craving for years.
“If the Pacquiao fight happens, it happens,” Mayweather said Saturday night after disposing of Maidana for the second time in four months. “You can ask the same questions and get the same answers. I call my own shots.”
That Mayweather is even acknowledging the possibility of a fight with Pacquiao is significant, since his previous stance had been to ignore his Filipino rival. But it may be that Mayweather has little choice but to turn to Pacquiao for a huge money fight as the careers of both fighters draw to an end.
A lot of that will depend on the pay-per-view numbers for the second Maidana fight. What they say about Mayweather’s drawing power likely will determine his next steps.