Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather rematch postponed indefinitely

The rematch between boxing greats Manny Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather has been postponed, the Filipino fighter’s camp says.

Pacquiao, 47, and Mayweather, 49, had agreed a professional rematch live on Netflix at Sphere in Las Vegas on Saturday, 19 September.

Former world champion Mayweather announced he would come out of retirement for his first professional bout since beating mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor in 2017.

Filipino Pacquiao, who hung up his gloves in 2021, came out of retirement last year to fight former WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios, who retained his title after a draw.

On Friday, the Pacquiao camp released a statement saying “a volatile mix of federal lawsuits, scheduling overbooks, and financial gridlock completely surrounding the Mayweather camp” had caused the postponement.

The statement added the earliest the rematch could take place would now be early 2027.

Events company CSI sued Mayweather last week to recover at least $4.65m (£3.52m) of the money that they paid the American for exclusive rights to promote the Pacquiao rematch and an exhibition bout with former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson that failed to materialise.

“Should Mayweather and CSI settle their internal contract disputes out of court, promoters will immediately pivot to rescheduling a postponed exhibition between Mayweather and Mike Tyson, tentatively targeting 12 September,” the Pacquiao team statement said.

Mayweather, who has won all 50 of his professional fights, and Pacquiao, a winner of 12 world titles across eight weight classes, fought in 2015, in what was billed as the ‘Fight of the Century’ and remains the richest in boxing history.

The American emerged victorious, winning via a wide unanimous decision in Las Vegas.

Since stepping away from professional boxing in 2017, Mayweather has had a number of exhibition fights, including a bout against YouTuber Logan Paul.

His next exhibition fight was due to be against Greek kickboxing star Mike Zambidis on Saturday in Athens, but ESPN has reported that that fight is off after CSI sought an injunction.