Mayweather vs Pacquiao 2: ‘Equal in decay’ – Mayweather v Pacquiao is another boxing ‘carnival’

Floyd Mayweather, 49, and Manny Pacquiao, 47, will contest their rematch in a professional bout in Las Vegas on 19 September.

It is a weird fight, «a carnival» as Steve Bunce aptly puts it. It is not one that boxing fans have been clamouring for. Nor were they ever considering how the first fight went in 2015 – delivered five years too late and as stale as feared.

«Carnival» boxing events, however, have become Netflix’s trademark. The streaming platform values one-off, big impact fights that may have little shelf life but burn bright in the moment.

«It’s not the first carnival fight on Netflix,» 5 Live Boxing expert Bunce told 5 Live Breakfast.

«We’ve had Mike Tyson against Jake Paul. We’ve had Jake Paul against Anthony Joshua.

«We’re so far down the freak fight road that this one doesn’t actually raise any alarms bells.

«It’ll just be two men, way past their best in a legitimate fight that is nothing more than an ego-driven sparring session.

«This circus just gets deeper and deeper and deeper.»

Boxing has a long history of carefully constructed mismatches. Mayweather championed and perfected the genre, fighting UFC star Conor McGregor in a competitively pointless but massively lucrative bout in 2017.

McGregor was a novice and Mayweather carried him through ten rounds before bringing an end to the contest.

Normally, exhibitions and «freak fights» were confined to the top of some luxury building with the wealthy paying a massive fee to see their favourite boxer up close.

The great Muhammad Ali reaped the benefit of this custom, fighting Japanese wrestler Antonio Inoki in 1976 in front of 14,00 in Tokyo.

Irish boxer Mick Conlan believes money will be the driving factor for both men.

«They are two of the greatest of their generation but they are very old and must need money or this fight wouldn’t be happening,» he tells BBC Sport Northern Ireland.

This is the sell, an anything can happen event where anything is definitely not going to happen.

Mayweather brought this tradition to the big stage when he fought McGregor on pay-per-view at the T-Mobile Arena and people have been following his example ever since.

With Jake Paul turning the art into the biggest industry in boxing with Netflix in recent years, it is perhaps no surprise Mayweather has returned to get in on the act.

But unlike many of these weird and worrying events – see Paul v 58-year-old Mike Tyson – this contest seems at least from a health point of view, easy to digest.

«They are both similarly aged,» Bunce says.

«One’s 49, one’s 47. They’ve had similar amount of fights.

«In theory, that’s a good thing. They are equal in decay or decline. So they’re not going in with a young dangerous fighter.»

It is yet to be confirmed what exactly the rules will be, but the rematch will be a professional bout and count to each man’s record.

Pacquiao has been in and out of the ring professionally and in exhibitions for years.

He was the oldest welterweight champion at the age of 40 in 2019 and came close to making it aged 46 when he drew with WBC welterweight champion Mario Barrios in the summer of 2024.

Mayweather has not fought professionally since becoming 50-0 by beating McGregor in 2017, but he has competed in eight exhibition bouts since then, including against YouTuber and WWE star Logan Paul.

Both men will be subject to extra tests as they are over the age of 40, but neither will be expected to fail.

«The claims are that this will be a real fight,» Bunce adds.

«They’ll wear 10oz gloves, 12, three-minute rounds and there will be no special rules – allegedly.»

«[In boxing] we either have exhibition fights or a real fight. This one is a blend of the two.»

Despite the fact a fight between two boxers nearing 50 is unlikely to set the sporting world alight, the competitive aspect seems secondary to the product.

«[The first fight] generated unbelievable sums of money. The gate itself, the tickets, generated $72m,» Bunce says. «[But] it was a dreadful fight. It was a stinker.»

Mayweather, however, is a master promoter, Pacquiao is loved by millions – the build-up will be as much the offering as the fight night.

Netflix has over 200m households globally and the bout will take place at the Sphere in Las Vegas which can hold 20,000.

After what the UFC achieved visually with their event there in 2024, it could be a completely new kind of viewing experience for a boxing fight.

Netflix has offered a fresh approach to fights, blending a big-show American style broadcasting with big-name expert analysts and presenters and drawing in the entertaiment world.

And these are two legends of the sport reviving one of boxing’s most famous rivalries of the last 50 years.

The appetite, as proven by Paul and Netflix’s past success, is absolutely there.

«You wll naturally watch it,» Bunce says and Conlan agrees.

«It’s unwanted but then people will think, ‘it’s Pacquiao v Mayweather – of course I will watch’,» Conlan says.

«I would love Pacquiao to win,» he adds.

«If he did, they’ll probably do another one.»